#you are going after people who have made it clear that they do not see those characters as family

[esote-rika]

Could I request Spencer with a really socially awkward reader(gn) who has to meet the team for the first time and just sort ends up hiding behind Spencer?

Feel free to ignore this if you're not up for it :)

Anon, thank you so much for this! I’m sorry it took a little long, but I hope you still enjoy it <3 Cute little drabble of Spencer being the best bf ever.

Contents: Mentions of alcohol, but otherwise, it’s just fluff!!! gn!reader.

Your hands are clammy when he takes them, a clear sign of your discomfort. Immediately, Spencer’s face softens, his features dappled pink and blue from the colorful lights of the bar. Neither of you drink, but his team is celebrating a case they successfully closed, and he’d mentioned it would be a good time to introduce you. The atmosphere is relaxed, after all, inhibitions dulled by alcohol and the knowledge of a job well done. 

For them, at least. You are operating under something entirely different. Nerves. Lots of it.

“You made it.” Spencer says brightly, before he wraps an arm around you and ushers you to their table. His team is all bright, welcoming smiles, and teasing remarks when they see you. You recognize them from the pictures, this group of people he’s come to know as his family. The cheeriest woman, Penelope Garcia walks up and gives you a big hug. Not expecting it, you stand there awkwardly, too busy wondering if you should return the gesture, but by the time you make up your mind, she’s already pulling away. 

Oops. You bite back a wince at your social blunder and manage a smile. 

“Spencer has told me all about you.” You say over the loud, thumping music. 

A chorus of replies. He spends all his time talking about you too, and You two are so cute, and I can’t believe Spence didn’t introduce you to us sooner! Lovely platitudes that you nod at. What exactly do you say to them beyond a thank you? Desperately, you wrack your brain for responses. Be witty, you chide yourself, charming. Make them like you.

But your words fail you in this moment, as they so often do. Small talk seems hollow, perfunctory instead of sincere, so you smile and nod politely as the comments continue around you. The more they go on about how it is to meet you, the more you seem to shrink into Spencer, smiling politely in response. You hope, desperately, that it's enough.

Once the initial round of introductions dies down, Spencer pulls you to a quieter table. The back of your neck is warm from all the attention, and you're worried his team may think you're being too clingy or antisocial. Surprisingly, his team doesn’t comment on it, moving on to get drinks and join the dance floor. Other people may have found it rude to retreat like this, but truthfully, you’re glad for the reprieve. 

Spencer’s hand is warm and heavy on your hip, pulling you tightly to his side. “Are you okay?”

You hum, nodding against his shoulder. “Your team’s nice.” 

“They are,” you feel his lips on your forehead, “But they can be a lot.”

You peak over his shoulder to look at the dance floor. Derek is in the middle of it with a few ladies, while JJ, Emily, and Penelope have their own little dance cluster. “They’re nice.” you repeat, “They just seemed excited.”

He chuckles, “Mhm, that’s because they’ve been wanting to meet you for weeks now.” 

You feel him pull back, and you have to fight back the urge to cling to him. He meets your gaze, brown eyes warm and glittering in the dim light. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not too overwhelmed?”

“I’m fine. I’m glad to have met them.”

He smiles, pleased that his reminders for his team had worked. He’d told them of your tendency to be awkward around new people and had asked them to accommodate it when they meet you. He’s just as nervous and eager for your introduction to be nice, but your comfort is of utmost importance to him. 

For a brief moment, he worried it wouldn’t work, but his team is gracious enough (and so excited over the fact that he has a relationship) that they’ve put on their best behavior and backed off immediately once they caught signs of your discomfort. You’re easy enough to read, and they’re highly trained profilers. 

“They already adore you.” he says, nose buried in your hair. 

You laugh, “You sure? I don’t know if I’ve made the best impression.”

“I’m sure.” his lips ghost across your hairline, “You weren’t even that bad. They’re used to so much worse.”

“Is that so?”

He nods, ducking down to press his lips to yours. “Need I remind you that they have to deal with me?”

Even more laughter escapes you, and you’re immediately put at ease, even more so than before. How could you not, when your boyfriend knows exactly what to say? Perhaps not to other people, but he’s so attuned to you and your needs that you just kiss him back in thanks.

[naniwatig3r]

CONTOUR LINES (18+)

Mingyu x artstudent!Femreader

Summary: You’ve finally broken up with your boyfriend Mingyu. Ignoring him has been hard, but you were finally at peace. But he had other plans, as he shows up to the figure drawing class you T.A…. And as the model.

Warnings: Unexplained breakup (im lazy lol), angst, cute fluff sometimes, art school stress, public nudity, public unprotected penetrative sex (no one is around though!), quickie

a/n: this was a idea i got while messing around with my friend who has a thing for mingyu, lol.

Word count: uhhh, around 7k ? I can’t remember 😅

————————

Another miss call.

Great, you thought, the tenth missed call from your ex boyfriend Mingyu this week.

It’s been about a month since you broke up with your ex, Kim Mingyu. It was an odd pairing in the first place. You met him coincidentally in the quad the beginning of the year, as you sat at the edge of the school fountain. Your sketchbook open, as you drew the scenery and people around you. A normal activity you did as an arts student.

You were clearly in the zone, drawing the fold in a random college student’s arm, before a voice interrupted your thoughts.

“Whoa, you can draw.”

Your eyes snap up, seeing a towering figure, completely blocking your view. No shit, you thought.

“Yeah, I guess.” You say plainly, hoping your short answer would deter this guy. But then the sunlight is back on the page you’re drawing, and you feel his warm presence sit right next to you. Maybe he’s just sitting down to sit down, so you try and finish your life drawing of the current student, but they were gone. Probably going to their next class.

Huffing, you still for a moment to put your pencil down.

“I wish I could draw like that,” You hear, as you glance to your side. Furrowing your eyebrows in irritation as the man leans over to stare directly into your sketchbook. “You’re a really good drawer.” He says in awe.

“Yeah, uh, thanks.” You say curtly, as he continues to stare at your sketches like he’s at a museum. These sketches were nothing compared to a Degas or something, yet he stared at them like it was, his brown eyes flickering around in interest.

He clears his throat, as he looks up to meet your eyes. He smiles, a toothy one where you notice how sharp his canines were. Cute.

He pulls his sleeve up from his wrist to his elbow, holding his large hand out, “Mingyu. Kim Mingyu.” He says, introducing himself. You nod, reluctantly shaking his hand, his grip tight and strong.

“Y/n.” You say back shortly, eyeing him, wondering how long this tall man was going to bother you.

He lets go of your hand, as he adjusts his position to turn more towards you. One leg over the other, leaning forward. His bangs falling so perfectly across his eyebrow, that it made you narrow your eyes. It’s crazy, people like this seriously exist huh?

“Do you do art or something?” No shit.

You nod, “Yeah, I’m a fine arts major.” You respond, giving him a strained polite smile. It felt like you had to, the way this guy has been beaming at you like a puppy as you give the driest replies.

He grins, “Whoa, no way. Thats cool,” He praises, “I’m—“

The rest of the meet cute didn’t matter.

After this, you kept bumping into him, coincidence you thought at first, but thinking back… he had no reason to be near the art school area of the campus.

He always asked to see your sketchbook, or whatever was in your portfolio folder as you tried to get to your studio. Even helping you carry your supplies and folders inside, and once he learned where you worked he came with iced coffee when he could.

At 3 am, he’d lay on the floor of your messy studio, watching you as you mix another color on your palette. Your sweatshirt pushed to your elbows, paint on your hands and face as you work on the gigantic canvas for your final.

“You don’t have to be here, you know,” You say a bit softly, your eyes tired despite your multiple energy drinks. “It must be boring to watch me throw paint for the last few hours.”

He shakes his head, sitting up as he looks at you with his puppy like eyes. “No, I like it. You’re so focused…” He trails, “I didn’t think art would be this hard.”

You glare at him for that remark, making him immediately tread back. His mouth gaping open and closing like a fish, “Ah! Not like that it’s easy — just that you’re so passionate you know?” He explains, throwing his hands around.

Rolling your eyes, you put your brush back into the muddy cup of water. “Why? Engineering not doing it for you?” You ask lazily, as you pull your claw clip out of your hair. Massaging your scalp from the tension.

Mingyu’s eyes focused on you, his cheeks slightly flushing. Eyes roving over how strands of your hair effortlessly frame your face. He clears his throat, “Uh, no. I like it. I’ve always been good at studying, and I get the material so,” He says, as he scratches his head.

“But I guess, it’s different watching you. Your eyes are different when you’re drawing, painting, sculpting. Whatever.” He says quietly.

“Different?” You muse, standing up to stretch your legs. Mingyu following instinctively, his tall frame dwarfing you.

He nods, “Mhm, yeah. I thought art was just a major for people who didn’t want to do anything, but getting to know you…” he says, as he follows you to your studio table. As you open the most recent energy drink you got from the vending machine. “You just don’t stop. Like you’re meant to do it.” He breathes.

His genuine words make you raise an eyebrow, turning to him. You give him a small smile, making his heart rate jump. “Yeah? It’s like you, I think.” You say, taking a sip of that battery acid of a drink. “I’ve just been doing this since forever. Natural to keep going.” You say nonchalantly, but Mingyu looks at you like you’re a living genius.

“Thats whats so cool,” He gushes, “You’re just made to do this.” He says, as he glances at your current work in progress. A large canvas with pleasing colors, his eye being drawn to the right areas. The beautifully rendered figure, framed with all the right strokes.

He looks back at you, with such an adoration you think it’s hallucinations from doing so many allnighters.

“Ah,” he starts, as he moves his long legs to shuffle through his bag, pulling out some tupperware. “I forgot, I was making uh, some dinner earlier and I had leftovers.” He lies, knowing full well he made it for you. He turns around, opening the tupperware to reveal a lunch box of different side dishes and protein. It could rival any meal inspo on pinterest, as he even carefully cut out seaweed to make cute faces.

You snicker, making Mingyu’s cheeks pink. “Leftovers huh?” You say, as you grab the lunchbox from him. Your fingers brushing over his, a welcome warmth from the cold air conditioning of the studio. “Thanks, I appreciate it. I was just gonna make some ramen.”

“Yeah no problem,” He strains, smiling. “You need energy to keep on going right? At least eat well if you’re gonna sacrifice your sleep.”

You take a bite, and even though it was cold, you nod in approval at the taste. The annoyingly large man could cook. Your reaction makes Mingyu grin, as you can see shamelessly how much that did to his ego.

“Still, you should go you know?” You say, as you remember Mingyu talking about his week a few days ago as you painted. “Don’t you have an exam tomorrow?”

Oh? He doesn’t focus on the fact that you’re asking him to go. Only that you remembered his schedule. He grins, “You remembered huh?”

You roll your eyes, “Of course I did. You told me.” You say, your own cheeks reddening from how embarrassed you felt from Mingyu’s reaction. Why was he so excited?

He shakes his head, “It’s fine, I was reviewing earlier. It’s in the afternoon anyways.”

You finish the lunchbox, washing it down with your energy drink before going to pick up a new large paint brush. “Fine by me then,” you sigh, not bothering to argue with him. It was weird the first time he accompanied you on an allnighter, but Mingyu’s presence became a normal occurrence since then.

And there he was, sitting obediently like a dog next to you as you continued painting. Your playlist ending hours ago, as the only sounds are the strokes of your brush, and the breathing of both of you.

It was like this for a while, until near the end of the year. This time, you were running out of steam.

Maybe it was all the all nighters the whole year, or the fact you got sick right before finals, but you were stuck in your studio once more. Slaving away as you work on your third painting of the night, trying to get your exhibition finished before sunlight.

You hear the sound of the door opening. He had his own key now — you copied one at one point since he always was knocking. Mingyu coming in with late night take out in one hand, clad in grey sweatpants and a hoodie, ready to tackle the night with you.

You don’t even bother looking behind you, his familiar presence and cologne already telling you who it is. “Hey,” He says softly, putting the food down as he notices your tired state. It was like you were running on fumes, the amount of empty redbulls and monsters around your studio telling him all he needed to know.

You grunt, “Yeah, hey.” You say tiredly, as you wipe your face with the back of your hand. Paint smearing on your cheek. Mingyu comes over with a napkin from the takeout container, huffing as he wipes your cheek with it.

“Whens the last time you took a break?” He asks, a bit worried. Despite hanging out with you for so long, he wouldn’t say he knew anything about art. But he knew you. And the way your wrist movements against the canvas were sluggish, and the way your eyebrows furrowed as the strokes didn’t land and look the way you wanted… he knew you were at your limit.

“Doesn’t matter, I have another painting after this.” You say roughly, “Fuck, I’m such an idiot. I should have painted when I was sick. At least worked on the concepts and colors so I didn’t have to figure it out right now.” You rant, sucking your bottom lip into your teeth.

Mingyu frowns, “No, y/n. What about a fifteen minute break? I got burgers, it’ll help.” He says, but your face isn’t budging, like the strict deadlines for the paintings.

You curse, “God, Mingyu, I can’t stop. All the fucking pieces look like shit, if I stall any longer I’ll never finish this ass of an exhibition.” You say shakily, as you haphazardly throw your brush into the water cup, the muddy water splashing out. You grab another brush to pick up a new color.

He looks around the 10 other pieces littered around the room drying, he doesn’t get it, and he never would. They all looked great, cohesive despite your protests. “Y/n, they look great. You gotta take a break you know? Maybe it’ll help. Maybe your eyes will like, reset or something. You’ve been looking at this painting for hours.” He says, trying to reason.

You don’t listen, as you flick your wrist harshly to create a quick line of color.

clack!

You wince, dropping your brush to clatter on the floor. Your wrist acting up at the worst time, as you curse under your breath. Mingyu’s hands go up instinctively to hold your wrist, holding it still.

“God, now my wrist is flaring up too. Great, just what I need!” You curse bitterly, your head down.

Mingyu holds your wrist gently, despite your angry state you don’t push him away as he gingerly inspects your wrist. “Hey, come on. Lets take a break, and then we can wrap your hand alright?” He says softly, trying to coax you.

He leans down to see your hidden face, and it breaks his heart. Hot tears welling in your eyes from stress, frustration, and the impending deadline.

He doesn’t think twice, leaning down to hold you into an embrace, pulling you off your stool into his arms. Tight, the tips of your shoes barely grazing the floor. You can’t help but cry into his shoulder, “God, why am I so bad? I can’t show anyone any of this,” You sob, as Mingyu rubs your back. His grip tightening around you, holding you close as you basically collapse into his arms.

“Hey, y/n, you’ve just been working too long. Lets take a break alright? It’ll look better once you rest your eyes a bit, I promise.” He coos, “I’ve got some burgers and sweet potato fries, even convinced them to give me extra —“

“Mingyu, why are you always here?” You ask bluntly, choking back your tears. Through the whole year you’ve been tolerating him getting closer. First, random conversations when you bumped into each other on campus, then visiting the art school, coming to your studio, staying to keep you company. You never once tried to push him away, but you didn’t understand how he hasn’t been turned off yet. Your all nighters, your insecurities, the way you reject his invitations to campus parties and events to work. It was all a mystery, especially as you crash out in his arms, over some acrylic and oil on canvas. This must look pathetic to him.

His eyes are a bit panicked at the question, “I uh, do you not want me to be?” He asks reluctantly, still holding you close.

You sniff, your hand against his chest, gripping the fabric of his hoodie into your fist.

“No, I just... Thank you.” You say quietly into his chest, and Mingyu felt his head spin. You could definitely hear it, he thought, the way his heart was pounding out his chest. How you relied on him, telling him to stay. If it wasn’t for the fact you were leaning on him to stay up, he’d probably melt into a puddle on the floor.

Mingyu takes you to the table, helping you sit down on one of the comfier chairs. A foldable one with a pillow he brought at one point, so he could watch you comfortably. He boasted once — y/n look! Found this by the dumpster!

You let out a deep sigh as you sit down, Mingyu bending down to his knees to look at you eye level. A hand to your cheek as you close your eyes tiredly. “Hey, you okay?” He asks, searching your face.

You nod, “Yeah, um, sorry,” You sigh, “I’m just — I’m just stressed. I didn’t mean to have a breakdown in front of you.” You say apologetically, embarrassed by it. But he shakes his head, not affected by it. In fact, it probably caused him to fall harder, seeing how hard you work.

“Don’t apologize,” He says, pushing strands of your hair back. You look up at him, straight into his brown eyes. The way he looks at you so fondly, worried, that his bottom lip juts out slightly as he observes you. The way his fingers felt along your cheek, how he’s warmed you up in the cold room, brought takeout for you.

Fuck, how his hair is tousled under the hood, and the fact his face was a sight for sore eyes after looking at your paintings all day. Something with actual 3d planes staring at you, instead of flat canvas. Maybe it was the all nighters, the fact you’re on multiple energy drinks on an empty stomach, or that Mingyu is there for you.

You lean forward, shutting your eyes shut as you push your lips against his.

It’s warm, soft… might even get lost in it if—

You pull back after a second, as you see Mingyu’s wide eyes.

Oh fuck, did you read this wrong? Shit, at least you can blame it on lack of sleep—

A pair of lips crash into yours again, this time, you part yours as Mingyu’s warm lips mold into yours. Its warm, and comforting and everything nice, as you grab his collar to pull him closer. Making him stumble forward as he holds onto the edge of the chair to steady himself close to you.

You let out a soft breath as Mingyu snakes his free hand around to the small or your back, pushing you close as possible to him. Mingyu compensating for your lack of energy with his, as he kisses you deeply, something he’s always wanted to do. Every since he watched you draw random people at that campus fountain.

He pulls back as you pathetically try to chase his lips, as he kisses you chastely before speaking. “Y/n,” He breathes, “Fuck, you don’t know how long I wanted to do that.” He confesses, as he holds your face in his large hands.

You smile softly, “Mingyu, I—“

The box of charcoals clatter, as you accidentally drop it right next to the table of supplies. Sheepishly you bow at the students in class, not meaning to disrupt their focus.

You bend down to pick up the charcoal. What are you doing? It may be the third figure drawing class today, but dropping a box of pencils as you recount your days with Mingyu was horrible. Terrible.

Especially when you boasted to one of your friends as you shared a meal, Ah, Kim Mingyu? Thats over. Lets just focus on grad review.

You sigh, standing back up as you slide the box of art supplies on the table. Checking the time, you slide the notifications of Mingyu’s missed calls away. It was five minutes before class started, where the hell was the model?

And as if on cue, the other T.A. comes skitting towards you, pushing her glasses up as she avoids the boxes of supplies around the room. “Ah, Y/n—“ She starts, talking quietly to not cause alarm.

She stops in front of you, as you furrow your brows. Today the professor wasn’t in. As the consistent T.A., she trusted you to handle today with no substitutes. It wasn’t anything hard. You just helped set up the drawing horses and supplies, adjusted the lights and made sure the models were comfortable. It was easier especially when another T.A. was assigned to assist you today.

“Hm? What?” You ask, as you dust your hands.

She takes a deep breath, “Um, well, the model got food poisoning.” She starts. Leaning in so other students didn’t hear. “I just learned this right now, she’s like in the bathroom in the main hall throwing up like crazy.”

You frown, “What? Is she okay?” You say, straightening up, walking towards the front door grabbing your jacket off one of the stray art horse chairs.

She follows clumsily, “She’s fine! But she can’t model for this class. I know you’re in charge, but I panicked and just called whoever was on the emergency model list.”

You stop, causing the other T.A. to bump into your back, with a little squeak. A small what should have been insignificant memory flooding back.

“You’re TAing now? Seriously?” Mingyu asks lightly, as he fiddles with a loose strand of your sweater, the rough pads of his fingers pulling on it.

You slap his hand away disapprovingly, causing him to pout. “Yeah, just for figure drawing. I want to make a little money anyways, but working at the campus cafe is too time consuming.” You respond, as you continue to draw in your sketchbook. Outlining the foliage in front of you with your pen.

“Hm, what would that mean?” He asks, leaning forward to wrap an arm around your shoulder. Careful not to disturb your drawing, as he rests his chin on your closer shoulder. Watching you draw was his favorite past time nowadays.

“Just like, setting up, taking care of the figure drawing models. Things like that.” You respond absentmindedly.

“Models? Like, thats a job?” He asks, making you crack a smile. You forget how normal people knew nothing about art. You’re just glad he was openminded about basically everything.

You turn to look at him, “Yeah, the school hires people to pose for drawing. Its for studying.” You respond, as you tap your pen against the tip of his nose, where his beloved mole resided. Making him scrunch his nose, the corners of his lips turning up.

“Actually, I should write the emergency contact list. The professor updates every semester of models to contact if theres no shows, and the et cetera. I should just do it now so I don’t forget —“

“Add me on there then.”

You blink.

“Huh, what?” You say confused, looking at him with raised brows.

He straightens up, “You heard me. Add my number to that list. It sounds interesting,” He defends, his tone light.

You shake your head, smiling. “Mingyu, you don’t get it. You have to stand there naked, and do different poses every five to thirty minutes. Its not an easy thing to do.” You say, dismissing his words as nonsense. Sometimes he was too eager to try things just because they existed in your world.

Mingyu doesn’t falter. “Yeah I know. I just, it sounds cool. Also having a bunch of people drawing me, I don’t know… sounds nice. Also its like emergency contact right?” He says shrugging, “It’s not like it’ll actually happen. I know you’d never call me if it was an emergency, but just add me on it. If all models decide they’re not feeling it that day.” He suggests lightly.

You stare at him still in disbelief, narrowing your eyes. He scoffs, leaning forward to lean his forehead against yours as a challenge. A little goofy smile on his face, “What? Come on. Just add me to the list.”

The rational side of you knew this would never actually happen. Mingyu had no qualifications, and besides, there was a dozen other numbers to call before him. So you suck it up, sighing, writing his name down. Just for the sake that he’d shut up about it.

“Okay, fine.”

Your heart beats, eyes wide as you try to calm yourself. You didn’t want to release your anger against this girl for trying to fix the situation. It was your fault, really, in the first place to put his number on there. But this never was something that has happened before.

“Which number picked up?” You ask calmly, clasping your hands together as you focus on not exploding on your fellow T.A.

“Uh, just called the first one. He said he was on campus so he was down, and we only have five minutes till class—“

“Jesus, his name please?”

“Kim Mingyu.”

Oh fuck. Fuuuucckkkkk.

Mouth wide, and panicked eyes, you start to speak, before you hear the opening of the classroom door. You turn, and your face practically goes pale.

There he was — Kim Mingyu, just in a simple coat and pants. His eyes immediately landing on you. Its only been a month, but he cut his hair. Slightly shorter than you remember, as you tilt your head.

Stop it. You have to act normal.

You take a deep breath, trying to act professional. There was no time to question why the hell he’d even pick up and walk all the way here. Or why your heart was beating so fast, just looking at him.

“Um, escort him to the dressing room area.” You start, prying your eyes from Mingyu to the other T.A. “There should be a clean robe there too.” You inform, patting her arm as you beeline straight away from them.

You find a haphazardly stacked amount of newsprint, focusing on making all the edges match as you calm your heart. It’s fine, it really is.

For some reason Mingyu was interested in figure drawing modeling before. Maybe he just wanted to cross that off his bucket list, and had nothing to do with you.

The other T.A. comes back to stand beside you, “Is he comfortable?” You ask.

“Yeah, he’s fine. Just seems a little inexperienced,” She responds, scratching her cheek. “He asked if he had to take all his clothes off, and I was like, huh? Yeah? But other that that—“

“Yeah, alright.” You interrupt dryly. “Thank you. I’ll just take over after this.” You say, as you grab the timer from the table.

You walk towards the center, clearing your throat as the art students look up. “Right, hi. Professor Kang isn’t here today, but don’t mind. Today will be quite an easy day.” You start, crossing your arms.

Your eyes immediately follow to the ruffle of the dressing curtain, as Mingyu walks out in a fluffy robe. Brown eyes meet yours, and for a second you think this will be fine. Until the corners of his lips turn up, into a toothy grin only you knew so well.

That motherfucker. Bucket list my ass, he said yes just to mess with you!

You turn away sharply, focusing back on the class. “The model today is Kim Mingyu.” You say shortly, before stepping off the small platform.

You gesture for Mingyu to walk to the center, your face stone cold as you watch him step onto the platform.

He clears his throat, “Do I take the robe off now?” He asks cluelessly.

Great, just show everyone you have no clue what you’re doing. If this was a few months ago, it’d be cute. But Mingyu standing hopelessly waiting for instructions was annoying you, to say the least.

You nod, and immediately, he undoes his robe and lets it fall to the floor.

You can’t help but stare. Your lips pressed into a thin line, your body tense. Stop stop stop! You couldn’t give him a reaction. As an artist, it was normal to see naked bodies. It wasn’t a sexual thing, especially in figure drawing. But Mingyu wasn’t just an old man or something. He was a conventionally attractive, tall, well built man. In more places than one.

“Oh shit, he’s hot.” The other T.A. whispers to you, covering her mouth. You bite back your embarrassment, as you just send her a glare for her unprofessional reaction.

It doesn’t help that other people around the room are pleasantly surprised by Mingyu, as I see pink dusting around people’s cheeks. It was infuriating, to say the least.

“Holy shit, a hot model. Is this real?”

“I thought we had a middle aged woman today. Bro… score!”

“I’ve never stared so closely.”

“Alright, warm ups. Ten one minute poses.” You say plainly, holding up the timer and pressing down on it. Immediately, Mingyu nods, springing into action.

His poses were something else. They were a bit awkward, as he stood there. First putting his hands on his hips, staring at the ground.

But he started getting more comfortable. After the ten one minute poses were up, the other T.A. Adds a stool to the platform for Mingyu to sit on.

“One pose, 15 minutes.” You say, setting the timer again.

This time instead of looking at the ground, wall, or ceiling, he stared straight at you. His eyes unwavering. The sight makes your mouth go dry, as the studio lights enhance Mingyu’s features perfectly.

His face framed by the little curl of his bang, light bouncing off his tanned skin as the definition of his muscles are on display. The way his large shoulders balance his proportions, and his skin smooth and tightly wrapped around his toned torso. He always was working out, and it seemed like he kept that up, as your eyes trail from his abs to his bottom half. Your cheeks flushing as he’s so unabashedly bare in front of the whole room.

But it only propelled your anger. How could he? Just step into your domain — the art school wing — and just come here? Posing like a gangly weirdo, riding on his looks so none of the students complained. Staring straight into your eyes as a confrontation. So much it felt like he was telepathically speaking to you.

Why aren’t you returning my calls? Or, how does this make you feel? It was infuriating.

And as if satisfied in your attention on him, he smirks, like he won some imaginary battle. This idiot.

The timer rings, making you flinch against the supply table. Your cheeks flush slightly, as you clear your throat. “Another 6 poses, each 2 minutes.” You manage to choke out, pressing the timer.

As the figure session goes on for the next hour, Mingyu’s confidence was starting to irritate you to no end. At first what was awkward, was now overtly dramatic. His poses of showing off his muscles, flexing his back, it was too much. People were here to draw, not ogle.

You decided to play, not wanting Mingyu to have the upper hand. As Mingyu goes to pick up the robe off the ground, you yell, “Stop right there!”

Mingyu freezes immediately, mainly out of confusion. His eyes drifting to you, a slight furrow of his brows.

“Now, the model will stay still. Do you see how the arm connects to the shoulder blades? Please turn to a new paper and start focusing on that area.” You say, stopping Mingyu in an uncomfortable position in the name of education.

You eye how his leg starts to shake from holding it, but it only fuels you. “Now focus on the thigh muscle, we’ll hold this pose for another 3 minutes.” You say, a little glee seeping into your voice.

Mingyu’s eyes shooting up to glare at you, as you cock your head and smile.

You push Mingyu to do crazy things, like pretending to do a lay up for 10 minutes to talk about line of action. Or when you asked the students to move in closer to draw his face, having twenty people at once hyper fixate on his expression. Now, the class was fun. You completely turned it around.

The timer rings. “Alright, lunch break.” You say, as it’s half way through the 6 hour class.

Theres a collective sigh of relief, as students massage their wrists, and Mingyu putting his robe back on, but loosely. Letting his chest peek out through the fabric, as he walks around the room.

You watch as he circles, smiling and complimenting others.

“Wow, thats really good.”

“Whoa, really love how you drew that one.”

“Is that how I look? I’m flattered! Thanks.”

You huff, looking away as you catch a glimpse of him leaning over a pretty girl’s shoulder as she shows her sketches. Purposefully letting the loose robe drape his exposed chest as he examines the drawings.

Students get up to stretch their bones outside, getting lunch during the break. The other T.A. goes to check on something, leaving only you and Mingyu in the figure drawing room.

You stand, ignoring him as you walk towards the platform, readjusting the power of the studio lights. “Next part of the class is long poses,” You say, twisting the knob. “So it’ll be harsh lights. you just have to sit there, it’ll easy.”

You turn back around, Mingyu looking at you with a small smile, barely a yard away. His hands on his hips, as he looks down at you. “You know,” He drawls, his voice low. “This was a lot more fun than I thought.”

“Is it?” You respond bitterly, “Well I’m glad. Because you’re not gonna be paid for this.” You inform him, as Mingyu isn’t a real model signed with the school.

“Thats okay, I’m getting what I wanted anyways.”

You sigh, as you cross your arms. Deciding not to beat around the bush.

“What are you doing here, Mingyu?” You ask tiredly, finally looking at him straight, your brows furrowed. You boldly looking into his playful eyes.

His smug expression softens, almost reminiscent to how he would look at you before everything. He takes his bottom lip under his teeth, chewing as he looks at you.

“You seriously need me to answer that? Like always?” He says quietly, but with only you two in the studio, he could whisper from across the room and you’d still catch it.

“What, like you actually answer me with anything that makes sense?” You respond back tightly. Sighing, you relax your shoulders, biting your cheek as you glance away from him. A student’s messy pencil case catching your attention, albeit forced.

A deafening silence falls. Mingyu never really liked to fight anyways.

“You’re, you’re difficult, you know that?” He starts, as he ruffles his hair with his hand, as if that would release his pent up frustration. “When I got the random phone call that you guys needed a last minute model, I thought for a second it was intentional.”

He takes a step closer, “But of course not. You looked like you saw a ghost when I walked in.”

You gulp, “Well, to be fair, thats what you are now.” You say quietly. Avoiding his eyes.

“Oh? So I’m just dead to you?”

“No, that would be easier.” You snap, finally looking back to face his eyes. Mingyu’s jaw clenched, his eyebrows knitted, trying to figure you out like an abstract art piece.

He swallows, his adam’s apple bobbing as he lets out a disappointed huff. “y/n.” He starts firmly, in a tone he barely used.

But of course, directed to you, making your skin crawl in the overly air conditioned room.

Hands on his hips, as he takes a long breath, his head facing down as he hides his expression. “For an artist, you’re really shit at expressing your feelings.” He sighs, his bangs hiding whatever you could gather from him.

“Fine.” He concludes, looking up, his shoulders more relaxed. “I’ll stop bothering you about it, since you’re so sure.” He says throwing his arms out. “On one condition.”

You furrow your brows in confusion, wary of whatever condition he was gonna propose. Mingyu could be unpredictable when you pushed him, making the hair at the back of your neck stand.

“Draw me.” He says finally. He glances at the clock on the wall, “They still have that lunch break. So just draw me at least once, before everyone comes back.” He proposes, turning around to walk casually to the platform, as if he’s assuming you would just do it.

Is he serious? You weren’t even together anymore, and yet he wants a free commission from you? Thats crazy, like you’d ever —

“Fine.” You say curtly, “Since you’re so desperate for my attention anyways.” You quip, walking over to the supply table, making sure your shoes stomp against the hard floor. You swipe some spare paper, clipboard, and some charcoal.

The second you were at an art horse in front of Mingyu though, your fire waned slightly. The dead silence of the room was deafening, as you adjust your clipboard. The sound of the metal clips thumping against the paper, the feet of the art horse squeaking as you adjust sitting on the worn wood.

When you gaze up at Mingyu, it was obvious. He really was getting what he wanted, and it was your undivided attention.

Once ready, the charcoal in your hand, Mingyu sits down on the stool, eyes steady on you as he grips the already loose tie around his robe with his large hand. Letting it fall, as he exposes himself once more in the bright lights you set up yourself. He kicks the robe away off the platform, set on you drawing him like this.

You blink back any feelings that threaten to show on your face, readjusting the charcoal in your hand as you avoid Mingyu’s eyes, pressing down to finally start a line.

Its been a while since you last drew figures, and it usually took an hour of continuous drawing before you really found your pace in figure drawing sessions. But it was different this time.

Your heart beats in your ears, a silence of the room highlighting the sound of your charcoal smearing against the newsprint — the sounds of your breathing and of Mingyu’s, as time passes. Agonizingly slowly, yet a focus every artist aches for.

Your hand moves accordingly. Outlining the contour of his silhouette, the way his neck slopes, the soft lines that shape his abs he always was working on. Pressing for pressure with your charcoal as you indicate the weight of him sitting on the stool, hands in his laps loose as you capture his likeness with ease.

But the focus doesn’t last for long, especially when you flicker your eyes back to his. Already flicking a stroke to mimic his right eyelid, before you still. Pressing the tip of your charcoal into the paper, crumbling against the grain as you stare into his large brown eyes.

Fuck. What are you even doing?

Why are you drawing him so intently, when you vowed just a while ago that you never wanted to see Mingyu again?

Your breath hitches, as you raise your arm, flickering back to your drawing. Charcoal in the air, swinging to run a huge line through your figure of him, to smear it, to destroy it, to —

Your wrist stops mid air, as you feel a warm grip tightening around you. Eyes wide, you unfocus on the paper, to look up. Somehow in your tiny melt down Mingyu got down from the platform.

He looks down at you, eyebrows furrowed. Jaw tense, “You were just gonna ruin it, weren’t you?” He asks you quietly.

You can’t help but knit your brows, a pained expression forming that matches the one in his eyes.

The charcoal clatters out of your hand, landing on the floor in broken pieces.

Tears start welling in your eyes, your bottom lip trembling. “You’re right,” You start shakily, “I don’t know… how to address anything unless I’m drawing.” You say weakly.

Mingyu’s eyes soften slightly, swallowing hard as the bright lights highlight the contour of throat bobbing. “Yeah, seems like it.” He replies carefully. You expected him to use this as a told you so, maybe give you a smug smile, like, I knew you weren’t over me.

But Mingyu was never like that anyways. No matter how much he craved your attention, he also wanted your peace of mind. A hard thing to ask from an artist like you.

His grip on your wrist softens, as he kneels down, getting eye level with you as you still sit on the art horse. Holding your hand in his, rubbing a thumb over the veins on the back of your hand gently.

“I miss you.” You finally muster, your eyes focused on his.

“I miss you too.” He responds back, before cracking a small smile.

You strain your brows into a furrow, blinking back the warm tears you naturally formed from the vulnerable moment. A shaky huff also coming out of you, as you decide to lean forward.

Inching your face closer, until the tip of your noses brush, Mingyu stiffening slightly as you shyly graze your lips against his lips. A small breath escaping his lips, fanning over yours before you finally part them.

Your lips against his — it was like home. Finding your way back after such a tumultuous and useless road. The warmth of his lips seeping into you, Mingyu as relieved as you are. His hands finding its way to the sides of your face, pulling you impossibly closer.

It only escalates, as you open your mouth wider to push your tongue against his, making Mingyu groan out as he meets you with similar enthusiasm.

He pulls you forward, off the art horse. Taking you down to the ground, maneuvering you until your back is against the hard floor. Covering you with his large frame, his weight pressing down on you in ways you were having such a hard time admitting you missed.

It was fast, and albeit messy and rushed. Like trying to make up for wasted time as you pull him close, hands wrapped around the back of his neck as your lips go numb, your teeth clashing.

You let out a whine, when Mingyu pulls away with a heavy breath, fighting against your attempts to pull him back for a kiss.

“Y/n — fuck, can we?” He asks hurriedly, his voice breathless. A look of want in his big eyes, but there was also a little responsibility.

First of all — anyone could walk into the studio any second. There was only a lunch break, sure, an hour. But at least half of it has passed.

As you take your bottom lip under your teeth, chewing at your swollen lip as you think. And Mingyu knows exactly what look you were giving him, and he wasn’t going to reject you. Not now.

He leans back in, crashing his lips against yours in a sloppy kiss, breath hot against yours, before moving to your jaw. Leaving open mouthed rushed kisses down your neck, as you move your hands down his back. Feeling the muscles you were forcing yourself to look away from during the whole first half of class.

Touching Mingyu was way better than just drawing him from afar. You’re sure on that.

He moves his hand down, to push your midi skirt up, bunching the fabric to your hips. Your legs exposed to the cold air of the studio, as he wastes no time to slide your panties to the side. Already wet and damp from the heavy making out, and partially to the adrenaline of being in such a risky place.

“Damn, already?” He says, with a slight tease to his voice, making you pinch his arm. He lets out a pained chuckle, before placing his thick fingers against yours core, a gasp escaping your lips.

It helped that he knew you so well already, your legs squirming around the sides of him as he runs his fingers through yours wet folds, his thumb circling your clit as he inserts two fingers in, stretching you out as you gasp, Mingyu attacking your neck with messy kisses as he gets you ready for him.

“Fuck, Gyu,” You whine, your eyes rolling back in pleasure as he curls his fingers, hitting the spongy flesh that makes you arch your back off of the floor.

You weren’t the only one worked up, Mingyu being bare this entire time. His dick pressing up against the inner of your thigh, hardening at the sounds of your pleasure.

Your hand shoots down to grab hold of him, helping him get hard as he lets out a moan, as you tighten your grip. Pumping him a few times, lining him up to you as he removes his hand from your entrance.

You both let out soft gasps as you hold his dick to swipe against you, coating him in your arousal, his tip leaking with precum.

He doesn’t even ask, he just knows, as he pushes in, filling you inch by inch. The friction from your pulled to the side panties, to the tight warm walls of your pussy, making him feel lightheaded with pleasure.

“Fuck, you’re so tight baby,” He breathes, without even adjusting, he ruts into you roughly. Bottoming out as he knocks the wind out of you.

A whine escapes your throat, as you hold tightly around his shoulders, as Mingyu doesn’t slow his pace.

Its rough, its fast, and overall — desperate. The lewd sounds of flesh colliding echoing in the empty studio. Your mind going dumb at his fast pace, only focused on how he goes in, out. In, out.

The smell of his sweat, the way your hands run down his exposed body, all for you. He did this all for you. To get your attention, to get you back. God, does he even know how that makes you feel?

“Fuck, fuck,” He whines, burying his face into the crook of your neck. Already feeling a little fatigued from abusing your pussy so fast. But it was just too good, he missed it so much. So, so much. And he made it evident, as he pushes the back of your thighs higher to your chest, getting deep as he can. And fucking you like his life counted on it.

You feel the familiar build up of your orgasm, your walls tightening as you grip Mingyu’s shoulders. “Gyu, Gyu, I’m —“ You manage to choke out, as he moves his face from your neck to yours. Catching your cry with his mouth, drowning it as he kisses you messily.

You shudder, squirming under him as you feel the familiar high. Your body tingling with sensitivity and pleasure, as he overwhelms you with what can only be love.

He follows soon after, not being able to maintain his mouth to yours as he lets out a shaky grunt. Spilling inside you, his cum warm and filling, making your cheeks flush in contentment and relief.

He slows, stilling as you both catch your breaths. Pulling out of you with a reluctance. Pushing himself up, to lean back to sit. You follow as well, adjusting your skirt back as you push yourself up to your elbows.

Mingyu was a sight, as he always is. His tan skin glowing with a layer of sweat. The way his toned chest rises from catching his breath. The way his bangs are sticking to his forehead, his cheeks flushed with a rush of blood. A satisfied look on his face, as he sighs, licking his bottom lip as he looks at you.

You can’t help but smile, a warm one. As you gather yourself.

“Lets get you cleaned up before the second half. Where did you throw your robe?”

“Oh fuck. I don’t know. You got any other ones?”

[verstappenf1lecccc]

Hey p here!!! 👋🏻 Just as we talk, I want a fic about Toto Wolff x wife reader who always healthy/happy go lucky person and suddenly she's ill. You can't decide what it is. Include there drivers/anyone in the sports reaction. Like they're trying to help her, watching out for her. She's their friend/mother figure, of course they're worried. But being her, she just deals with humour even though she's sick. And can you include Jack? That boy has my heart. Even though this must be heartbreaking for him at such a young age, I think it's time for some angst, gut wrenching story that traumatize us all😃 And lastly how everyone cope with it. Add anything you want to. Thanks!!! :))) Appreciate it❤️❤️

With prompts:

1) "After all this time?” “Yes. I still do"

2) "My sweet and brave little munchkin."

3) "Tick tock, the clock is ticking"

4) "I thought we had more time"

Slipping through my fingers

there are moments in life that define everything, moments that still your world to a complete standstill people often assume that these moments are of joy or happiness. unfortunately for toto his moments caught a rotten streak and his world was never going to be the same ever again.

the day toto met her was a day full of surprises for both of them.

y/n had just recently made the decision to switch up her major from nursing towards mass media and journalism. it was a switch that raised a lot of eyebrows and concern from her family yet they supported her nonetheless, everyone knew how talented she was and knew she’d get a job eventually. What they didn’t know was along with the job she’d catch the attention of a rather tall man.

toto was having a rather eventful day, both of his star drivers had crashed into each other on lap one giving his arch nemesis horner his day in the sun with his prodigy max verstappen winning the race only to rub salt in his raw open wounds. he should have signed him instead of nico toto thought as he stomped through the media pen only to be bombared with around a hundred reporters eagerly waiting to see if the team principal was going to have another one of his infamous anger blowouts. alas to them a young female reporters questions had caught the interest of Toto.

Her question was clear cut no glazing no unnecessary flattery to grab his attention, all she’d ask him was if he’s going to fire someone on the pit wall for the strategies today. it was a bold question not one that reportes like to use since it ends up in court cases but she really didn’t care. It was her first few races and she wanted to make a name for herself and boy did she.

Toto’s response was curt and dismissive but she didn’t budge one bit, she was persistent and that caught Toto’s attention.

ladies and gentlemen this was the first moment in Toto’s life that had stopped the world for him.

the moment he looked into her eyes he felt everything was irrelevant. He didn’t care that both silver arrows were a pile of silver dust all that was captivating to him was the brown tinge in her hazel eyes. toto wanted to stare into them forever, and perhaps god was smiling straight down on them and decided to seal both their fates together.

and so it started.

their infamous courtship.

Now for a team principal speaking to people was almost second nature but when it came to her toto was a blubbering mess always leaving the conversation wanting to speak more, it was rather funny towards the other team principals. he was acting like a teenager with his first crush.

things weren’t all that easy for her too, each interaction with toto outside of business had her craving him more and more, she chuckled at his faint attempts to woo her and get her lunches. she too had a crush on him and it was only getting stronger.

the turning point in their relationship was the after party at the Abu Dhabi Grabd Prix, the long season was finally over and the celebrations had started. Toto had eagerly invited her and was hoping praying dying to see her come, unfortunately he wasn’t the only one who was waiting to see her, amongst his infatuation toto was as blind to how interested zak brown had also become towards her. he wasn’t often caught staring at her in places no man’s eyes had entitlement to. things were starting to get creepy but none of our two lovebirds had figured that out.

the party was in full swing when she had decided to show up, wrapping up her tasks with sky sports made her rather late but the look in Toto’s eyes when he had saw her was everything she had hoped and wanted. The man looked starstruck it was insane how whipped he was for her and they weren’t even together.

a couple of drinks and close dances later when she had excused herself to go to the ladies room was when calamity hit.

zak had his dirty gazes set on her ever since she had shown up, he knew toto wasn’t on guard whenever she was there and knew it was his time to try and get handsy with her.

right after walking out of the ladies room she was dragged into a corner and that’s when she felt small fat and stubby fingers trying to touch her. it felt humiliating disgusting and frankly made her want to bleach her skin. right before zak could cover her mouth and start with his actual plan she screamed as hard as she could hoping to get anyone’s attention oh how she regretted not taking up Toto’s offer to walk her to the restroom.

toto had wondered where she had ended up disappearing, was he being too much did she need a break from him?? he was overthinking when he heard her cries for help and in a second all the alcohol in his system had vanished. He leaped towards her cries and the scene startled him to his core, in a second zak was off her and his disgusting touch was replaced with the warm calm caressing of toto a man she was familiar with someone she knew.

the entire night was ruined in a split second, it wasn’t until toto had zak in a head lock that she’d regained her senses, seeing him so worked up over protecting her name and honour made her do what she did next.

the second toto was close by she kissed him, full on kissed him. it wasn’t short or messy it was full of reassurance of promise and of new beginnings.

that’s how the two souls collided.

oh and zak was given not one but multiple fractures and a hefty legal case to fight, toto didn’t play when it came to the ones who he loved.

the new couple relationship caused frenzy all over the internet and the paddock, no one really expected them to be a couple it didn’t make sense, out of everyone why did toto choose a journalist? Didn’t he know if they break up his whole life would be plastered onto the news.

Headlines like these made both of them chuckle, neither of them seeming to care, they were just happy to be with each other against all odds.

throughout the course of their relationship there were times where y/n had become sick, it often worried toto seeing how easily the common cold for her could become much serious, she always brushed his concerns away. it wasn’t until much later into their relationship when toto started noticing more and more health concerns for his now fiancé.

the proposal had taken place in Iceland she’d always loved it there especially the black sand beach and how beautifully it contrasted against the bright white snow, often times she’d dreamed of going there and toto made it a reality for them. she later joked that the beach and the snow represented each of them perfectly, Toto being the dark black beach that only softens in appearance in front of the snow. he’d got down on one knee at that exact spot uttering words of love and honesty. they had their vows at the exact same place. some things don’t change.

it was now 3 years into their marriage, toto had settled down and wasn’t all angry and violent like he used to be (ask the poor abused headsets) he was much calmer and level headed, that’s what happens when you marry the love of your life. he knew not to piss his wife off or worry her after all she was carrying his baby.

the pregnancy test was taken after she had thrown up half her body weight, toto wasn’t around he infact was in austria for the Grand Prix, she had excused herself from it with dumb excuses, Toto ever the gentleman knew not to push it and let her have some space.

In a matter of seconds their world’s axis shifted.

the pregnancy test came as a positive surprise, neither of them had discussed having children but they weren’t against the idea, when toto came back to his wife pale and heaving beside the toilet he knew what was going on, he whisked her off her feet and kissed her so strongly that you might think the man was off to war.

her pregnancy came with a price thou, a huge price for her to pay. y/n was anaemic her body didn’t have enough red blood cells and that’s why she could faint at the drop of a hat.

the couple had been shopping during the off season for the arrival of their little baby, unfortunately fans and paparazzi got a hold of their location resulting in a rather ugly swarm of cameras and people. the noise alone alerted Toto that their quiet evening had come to an end, in a rush to protect his wife and unborn child Toto’s steps where hastened and elongated, unfortunately his wife simply couldn’t keep up and fell victim to one of her fainting spells the camera and the noises alongside the amount of people did nothing to help her and so she collapsed.

the faint thud would haunt Toto forever, his whole world crumbled when he heard it, instantly he rushed towards her only to find her knocked out cold, the rush to the hospital has been the longest wait of his life.

he swore then and there that he wouldn’t ever put her or their child in such a situation.

luckily both mother and baby were okay, when they got home later that night she had fallen asleep unknown to the storm that was brewing within her husband.

Toto wasn’t a very emotionally available man, he preferred to deal with his emotions privately or not at all if possible but ever since meeting her he’s been more open towards showing love and care but the one thing he won’t show is fear.

Torger Christian Wolff was afraid.

he’d been having these vivid dreams of his wife dying and leaving him and their six year old son alone forever, it’s been haunting him ever since her fall.

[helloyesthisispapermario]

#no same im still surprised when i tag something for my own organization after the first 5 tags and it gets attention#from folks who don’t follow me. you weren’t supposed to see that. now i gotta post it and go back and edit to have tags ig#but not showing up in your own blog. girl what are the tags FOR at that point#i know it cuts you off from typing them at a certain threshold but i forget how many that is#idk why it wouldn’t cut you off at 20. unless it does and op is talking about reblogs using the xkit thingy on desktop?#where you can just kinda type whatever forever without realizing you’ve been cut off

--

just to be abundantly clear to anyone wondering: i'm not talking about the xkit thing (though i am aware of it, love that feature), or even about /search, really, i mean like

if you make "#myart" tag number 21 on your post, and i go to your blog, and i type in blogname.tumblr.com/tagged/myart, i am, in fact, not going to see your art. because tumblr doesn't register any tags past number 20, apparently. the post i discovered this on was from 2018, and i stumbled on it the day i made this post. ("#myart" was tag number 25 on the post, for complete transparency)

chances are that few people are going to run into this, because tagging your art posts with every game (related or not) and every nintendo console is a little overkill, but like. some people like rambling in the tags and going on rants! for them, it's pretty important information to know that if you do that then you need to make sure your organizational tags occur BEFORE number 20 or they won't function as organizaton at all: which is why i made this post lol

and for artists, it's important to know that the 20 tags you get for reach are ALSO the 20 tags you get for blog organization, which is why "#my art" and "#specific project" are tags that need to go higher than number 20.

no hard feelings @ anyone, just addressing a handful of comments i've seen in the notes + these tags were most relevant + i liked them. this post is for the oldies, for real.

(NEW?) TUMBLR TAGGING PSA:

heads up, folks! it looks like - EVEN AND ESPECIALLY ON YOUR CUSTOM BLOG VIEW!!! - tumblr only counts the first twenty tags! on a post! after this, the post won't show up in that tag, not even on your blog

so if you have a personal art tag but you put it at the bottom of the post under all of the #switch #nintendo #mario #bros #64 etc etc etc bloat tags, it doesn't work.

please put your most relevant tags first! having an art tag that doesn't have all your art posts in it is basically useless, after all

there used to be a saying that tumblr search only counted the first five tags on a post, which is why crosstagging for reach was pointless. tumblr has since updated to count twenty tags - at a cost. any tags after #20 apparently do not show up in that tag on your own blog.

i found this out because i was looking at someone's cool mario 64 art project, and because they put the tag for the project at the very bottom of their tags, the final post NEVER showed up in their tag for the project when i was browsing it ON THEIR BLOG (very different tumblr behavior than it used to be years ago!). i did finally stumble on the final post of the project, thankfully, and realizing what happend, i started counting. tumblr counts the first 20 tags, but tag #21 and all after are useless.

psa!

[beesgobzzzing]

Käärijä's life after Eurovision - almost burned out

Translation under the break!

Käärijä came, saw and conquered - kind of - in Eurovision 2023. After having almost burned out he's now back with new music and a clear statement: - I love Sweden, really, he tells Expressen.

Käärijä was on location in Luleå on Saturday for the first semi of Melodifestivalen, where he made up an interval act together with Hooja.

After Eurovision I got a lot of Swedish fans, I love them and want to say thank you for everything they do for me. In Eurovision 2023 he almost won. He came in second, after "Tattoo" by Loreen. A loss that stung, both for him and for Finland, since he got the most public votes, but not enough jury votes. - I've moved on. Life has moved on, you can't get stuck on it. It's just a competition, it's a big thing of course, but it doesn't matter who wins.

Are you doing okay? - I'm okay, but I think some Finns are angry. But I think they need to move on, Loreen is a fantastic artist and a loveable person and it's not her fault that she won - of course it's her fault - but people voted, then she won.

What have you been doing since Eurovision? - Of course a lot of things have happened since Eurovision. Good things, bad things. I've made a new album, done a lot of gigs, gotten new friends from other countries, not just Finland. I've started speaking more Finnish, he says and laughs.

How was everything right after the success of Eurovision? - If I think back on 2023… It was hard. People recognized me everywhere and I couldn't leave my house. It was a happy but also sad time. My life changed, over night. - I'm still waiting until I can take a month or two off. After Eurovision I had a week off. A week! It doesn't matter what you do - it's not enough. I'm still waiting until I am able to take more time off. I love my work, but you have to be able to rest.

Did you get over worked? - Kind of, yes. You get to a point where you do a bunch of different things - and you get paid for it. Everyone wants to work when they get well paid for it, that's the truth and that's what it was like for me too. But now, I can say no if I don't want to do something.

Because you're rich now? - Yes, exactly, he laughs.

On Friday he released "San Francisco Boy" together with Hooja. - It is not a Käärijä-song, or a Hooja-song. It is what happens when you put three crazy guys together, that's when you get this kind of song. For me it's about being the person you want to be. You can be a disco boy, a party boy - or a San Francisco boy.

The trio got into contact in 2024 and started collaborating. - The boys came to Finland and we hung out in the studio for a couple of days, we made a few songs.

A few? - Maybe a few, but we don't know if we're going to release the others. You never know. But "San Francisco Boy", everyone liked it. We'll see about the others.

What is happening next for you? - I am not doing as many gigs this year. There are a few summer gigs. But now we're making music, a bunch of new music and I'm spending a lot of time in the studio, working, after that we'll see what happens.

[sulfies]

If I Lead (pt 4)

Part 3 here

Ezio wanted a warm bath, a good wine and a soft bed… then maybe a visit from a courtesan once he was rested.

His ass was hurting from the long horseback ride from Venice to Monterriggioni but he was glad to be back home. 

Things were not done with the thieves yet and Rosa still had a few more tricks she wanted to teach him, but he had to visit home every now and then to ease Claudia's worries and top up the funds the village needed.

He had found some more riches hidden around while looking for more of those discs that went into the sanctuary. So far he had two counting the one on him.

He rode his horse through the market street nodding and throwing small pleasantries to the people trying to gain his attention. It felt weird to come back sometimes and… be known by many after months of hiding in crowds, not drawing any attention. 

But he did miss being able to just walk openly and not worry if the guards were going to come after him.

He looked around the buildings as he passed them by. More people were coming into the town each day and Monterrigioni was finding his footing once more. From what Claudia has yelled about to him, Mario had messed up the finances of the village in a way that should not have been possible.

Thank god one of them took their father's banker genes…

He rolled his shoulders and came closer to the stairs leading to the villa. Mercenaries were doing their regular stuff. Some in the ring that stood in the middle and some were scattered around the clearing on the upper sides. 

He would check the barracks tomorrow, he had ordered it to be fixed before he left and he hoped they had actually listened to him or he was going to send their half of this month's wages into the repairs of the church.

He hopped down from his horse giving the reins to the stablehand nearby who was waiting for him.

“Welcome back, Ser Ezio, hope the road treated you well.”

He hummed in response, the road was always the same. He had to deal with some bandits but they were far enough from Monteriggioni. Still, maybe he would talk to the mercenaries later about them expanding their patrol zones. The last thing they needed was for the traders to get discouraged from coming in due to the roads.

He started climbing the stairs, the nearby soldiers said their welcome as he passed by and he waved his hand to them out of courtesy and not much else.

Bed, wine and bed… then he would act like a civilized human to the people.

He walked in through the doors of his home as Claudia was making his way down the stairs.

“It's good to see you back Ezio”

“Claudia” Ezio walked to his sister with open arms.

Claudia made a face as she was drawn into his arms “Can't you wait till you wash this disgusting smell out of you first.” yet put up no real fight to get out of the embrace.

Ezio laughed and let her go. “Shame that you would insult your dear brother, you wound me with your harsh words, Claudia.”

“Mhm, I'll take pity once you smell like a human being again. Go now, the maids have already prepared a bath for you, we will catch up after, with dinner.”

Ezio smiled and climbed the stairs with a spring in his step. He had missed home and its luxuries.

Opening the door to his room he sighed blissfully once his eyes landed on the tub. He couldn't get the armour off him faster.

Once his limbs hit the warm water his muscles melted their aches like butter. Looking at the stool nearby he saw a goblet filled with wine sitting pretty for him and his smile widened. 

“It's the simple things really…”

He grabbed his cup and just sat in the tub as he sipped it, savouring every drop. 

He spent longer than he usually did, the water was almost lukewarm when he decided to start washing himself fully.

What he wouldn't give for a massage right this very moment… 

By the time he got out of the tub, the water was on its way to become cold. He dried himself off and put on his fresh clothes. 

Also laid out on his bed for ease; he could kiss the maids.

He put on his bracers and made his way down to his sister’s office, a small chest filled with their new funds by his side.

“Do I have the permission to enter the premises, my lady?” he mocked with two taps on the doorframe, drawing Claudia's attention from the papers on her desk.

“Since I didn't smell you coming in… yes, you do.”

Ezio walked to the desk dropping the chest on it slowly, Claudia's eyes sparkled as she got up to open it up. 

Eyeing the coins inside she smiled back at him.

“Good work, brother! Do you know how much is inside?”

Ezio shook his head “No, that's your job” and received a pout for his answer. 

“One day your face is going to get stuck like that”

“And I'll blame you for it ’till you die.”

He drew her in for another hug, a longer one and this time Claudia was happy to return it fully.

“How is Madre…” He felt Claudia's shoulders rise in a sigh. “Same as always, but she eats and drinks. Some days I can get her to walk around the garden, which is something, but still not a word has fallen from her lips.”

Ezip nodded and planted a small kiss into his sister's hair as he let her go. “I'll go check up on her after dinner, got some more feathers for her.”

“That would be nice, somedays I find her in front of the box gazing… at least it is a reaction of some kind”

“Indeed.”

---------------------------

The dinner passed with laughter and the latest gossip from both sides, what Ezio did, how the town fared while he was gone…

“The repairs on the barracks are almost complete”

“That's good, I was thinking about getting the church fixed next.”

Claudia smiled. “Venice has changed you huh…” Ezio laughed. “It's not that. Truthfully, I could not care less about it, but since the brothel and the barracks, I fear if I don't actually fix it soon people are going to get annoyed.”

“Glad to see you use your head for once.” Ezio rolled his eyes at the comment. “But yes that would put some people at ease, maybe draw some more people in. The shops have been faring well, but there are still many empty ones.”

“The market looked pretty full to me…”

“That's because everyone knew you were on your way, some of our merchants have been sending their better wares away to bigger cities via traders.”

Ezio raised an eyebrow “You want me to do a little bit of inspection don't you…”

“Yes, go around and show yourself so they have a reason to not hide them”

She took a bite from her meal. “And maybe stay longer than a week this time hm? I know you have much to do back in Venice, but as a young woman I can only throw my weight around so much in this place Ezio”

Ezio scoffed, “You basically run this town better than I would, all the bookings are done by you.” 

“I do run it better than you, I'm not saying I don't. I am saying that annoying people like the mercenaries and the merchants respond better to an authority they fear…Which would be, you.”

“So you want me on guard dog duty.” 

“Yes, I'm sure Venice can handle a couple of weeks without their local vigilante.”

“Whatever you say, my liege.”

---------------------------

After dinner, Ezio visited his mother's chambers. 

As Claudia had said she didn't look any better… but she didn't look any worse, either.

He walked in with soft steps and his shoulders down. She felt like a scared feral animal some days, if he moved quickly she might try to fly in fright.

She was sitting by her bedside chair facing the balcony watching the sky, hands still in a prayer.

“Madre, I'm back” He didn't really wait for a reply, used to the silence by now but it still hurt his heart.

He came close to her side and kneeled by her, placing his hand on top of hers.

“I'm not done yet in Venice… don't know when I will be but thought it was time I came back for a visit. Claudia thinks I should stay for a while.” 

Smiling up at her sadly he continued “I think she is tricking me into taking a break”

He stood by her side for a while embracing the silence. 

“I brought you some more feathers, Claudia let me know that sometimes you look at the box. Glad to know you enjoy them.” 

He leaned down and kissed her hands, his thumb rubbed over the back of them. 

“I'll bring even more the next time, hm?”

He got up and walked over to the box. Eyes still stuck on her form he placed the white feathers in it and locked the box after.

“I'll come again tomorrow, Madre…”

He walked out of the room with the same silent steps. 

It hurt a lot.

Each time he went to see her he had a small hope that it would be different but he left with grief filling his heart each time.

It was weird, could you still feel grief over someone who was still alive? 

If not, he didn't know what else to name the hurt he felt beneath his lungs.

He made his way to his room again, the sun had just started setting down and the weight of the road was pulling him to bed.

He walked into his room and faceplanted onto the sheets, throwing his boots to the side and unlacing his hose halfway. Too lazy to change his clothes, he was clean anyway.

Closing his eyes he welcomed the wave of sleep that washed over him….

---------------------------

When he woke up the next day the sun was up quite high, he overslept. The road had taken out of him more than he had anticipated.

Maybe Claudia was right, some downtime would do him good.

He cleaned himself up with a fresh set of clothes, putting only bracers on from his daily uniform. He would get the maids to wash that today as well, tho he knew his enjoyment of his clean capes would only last half a week.

Making his way downstairs he stretched his arms above his head and yawned. He could probably sleep a bit more if he stayed in the bed but Claudia would give him a face about it.

Stopping by her door again he knocked twice on the frame. “Buongiorno!”

Claudia looked up to him, her desk had some coins lying around it and the chest he brought yesterday was open on her side. 

“It's almost mid-day… but good morning to you too”

Ezio smiled fondly “So, did I bring enough back or do I need to make another trip…”

“I haven't been able to go through all of it but… Yes, we will be cushioned for a while.”

She looked back at her pages to check the numbers.

“There will be a lot of leftovers even after the repairs which is a nice safety net.”

“Good to hear.” Ezio watched his sister focus back on her work again and took it as a cue for him to get going.

“I am going to go down and see how the barracks are coming along. Then maybe visit the blacksmith. Lost some daggers here and there that I want to replace.”

Claudia just hummed in response and waved her quill without lifting his eyes away from her desk.

---------------------------

Once out of the Villa, Ezio gazed down at the town. Feeling the sun hit his face was a rare luxury he got to enjoy only here. 

At the top of the stairs, he just watched the people go about their day for a bit. Things were coming along, he noticed yesterday but now with his full attention, he realized Claudia had repaired some more buildings outside of the main street. Some houses were still getting work done with workers outside. 

He noticed some more ropes going in between the buildings as well. He chuckled, that was nice of her to do…

He made his way down into the street, nodding at the pleasantries people threw his way, stopping now and then to hear people's troubles. 

They were mostly crying about leaking roofs and general upkeep troubles.

He took the street that led to the barracks.

The renovation was still going on but from what he could see they were almost done with maybe a month or so of work left to do.

He walked into the building, most of the chatter stopped for a beat and then continued but he could feel the side glances coming his way.

He paid no mind and went further in, towards the back room. He could hear Mario’s voice boom even through the closed doors.

So that's where his uncle was… with each step the mumblings of Mario’s voice got more clear.

“...I said I would try to talk about a raise but don't push my hand Marsillio. You and I both know I take the defence of this place very se-”

“What's this talk about a raise?”

Mario turned around to face Ezio standing by the open door.

“Ezio! How swell is it to see you” His frown chanced the moment his eyes landed on his nephew.

Approaching him, Mario clasped his forearm in a greeting and patted his back strongly. A big smile was plastered on his face. “I missed you coming back yesterday.”

“Don't worry about it Zio, I went to bed pretty early.” He nodded back in sympathy then looked back at the other person. “Now, what were you guys just talking about?” He tried to keep his tone even.

“Nothing for you to worry about yet, Nipote.” Ezio raised an eyebrow and kept looking at the other mercenary who was doing his best to not avert his eyes. 

“We…were just talking to Ser Mario about additional budgeting for the upkeep of our weapons.”

Ah… still after their old payout before he got his hands on the ledger and let his sister make some cuts. 

“Why? Don't your men know how to polish their own swords?”

Marsillio smiled sheepishly “They do but you can only polish a dull sword so many times before It will break, sir.”

“Well, are any of them broken?”

“No… not yet but would you rather them break in the heat of the battle and leave our men defenseless?”

Ezio put a hand on his hip. “If Monteriggioni ever has to go into battle, I assure you no funds will be spared for its aid.”

Before the other could get a word in he continued. “I have already factored in the upkeep of your armoury into the budget you were dealt for this year. You will make do with what you are given till I see a reason to allocate more with my own eyes.”

Marsilio looked like he was trying very hard to keep his face straight, Ezio found it quite funny. Answering to a younger man, when you used to be able to get what you wanted with ease would put a chip on any man's shoulder.

He crossed his arms with a smug look he couldn't hide “Well, now that we all have agreed on the budget problem… I had actually come here for a different reason.”

Mario looked at him with slight worry, Ezio shot him a smile to calm his nerves “Nothing pressing or such but I’d like the outside patrols to expand their search area.”

“We already cover plenty of grounds, Ser Ezio. My men have yet to find even tracks of passing bandits.” Marsillio retaliated.

“Then they won't mind having to go a bit further on their search to keep the good people of our town safe, hm?” 

He stared at him for a while, seeing the other man's conviction crumble by the second, he clearly wanted to argue against it.

“As.. as you wish sir.”

Really, this was starting to bore him.

Paying these guys for them to complain like young maidens who didn't get enough pocket money for their dresses… but Monteriggioni needed its defences and this was the best they got thanks to Mario, bless his heart.

“That's good to hear, I'm sure the citizens of Monteriggioni will be thankful for your services.” He turned his attention to Mario “It is lovely to see you again Uncle Mario, I’ll try to visit your office later today.”

Mario gave him his signature grin and clasped his shoulder, shaking him with it. “Yes of course! I wanted to hear about your latest doings anyway.”

Ezio gave a nod and left the room. Feeling the pointed stares of others behind his back as he crossed the main room. He knew the mercenaries were not too happy to see him back. 

No one would be happy to see their boss back.

He stepped outside of the building, letting himself breathe a bit. He rolled his shoulders to ease his tension… this was such a chore but Claudia was right, these types of men only responded to an authority they feared.

“Once again hiding to the side Domenico? You have been at these swords for three days now…”

A man talked out of the corner of his eye. He was leaning over against the railing that surraunded the Stable. The mention of swords caught his attention.

“Come on, take a break and join me for at least a cup.”

Another man, older than the one who just talked, was inside the open area of the stable with a pile of swords next to him. Sharpening the one in his hand on the whetstone on his lap.

“I told you, I don't like drinking during the day…” “Then come play dice!”

The man sighed. “Don't sigh at me, I am your senior and I order you to come inside. I have yet to see you rest after today's rounds.”

“Angelo, I am resting. See, this is me sitting… which means I am resting”

The older man raised his head to give a look of disappointment to Angelo when his eyes met with Ezio for a second then quickly went back to the other man.

“Yea sure, and laying with your wife is called falling asleep” 

“Angelo!”

The man raised his arms in a sheepish defence “I'm joking, I'm joking...” With an impatient huff, he pointed his fingers at Domenico. “Don’t look at me like that, I'll leave you to your rest, but you are ordered to come to the tavern with us tonight. No excuses!”

Ezio chuckled to himself quietly and started walking towards the market, leaving the two men to their bickering. Unlike what Marsilio said, the swords looked fine after all.

[sparkling-moonbeam]

No Innuendo (Ray x Reader)

(ᴀ/ɴ: ɪ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪ�� ᴀ ᴡʜɪᴍ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ꜱᴜᴅᴅᴇɴ ɪᴅᴇᴀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜɪᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏꜰ ɴᴏᴡʜᴇʀᴇ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴅᴇᴅɪᴄᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰɪɴᴀʟʟʏ ꜱᴇᴇ ᴛʜɪꜱ.)

DETAILS

Genre: ꜰʟᴜꜰꜰ (ᴏɴᴇ-ꜱʜᴏᴛ)

Gender: ɴᴇᴜᴛʀᴀʟ

Warnings: ꜱᴜɢɢᴇꜱᴛɪᴠᴇ, ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴇxᴘʟɪᴄɪᴛ

Word Count: 3135 ᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ

Drained. If he were asked how he felt years ago, that would be his answer. It was draining to keep up appearances for the sake of being the shining bright hero. He felt tired and drained. At one point, he was having a dilemma with who he was. The dread of being in a constant battle against himself was slowly eating him. 

A star should shine, they say. But he felt like he was drowning. Amidst the popularity and persona he's portraying, something 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 was stirring within him. It's not like the public knows what his power is. Who knows what would happen if it ever got leaked? Would they still stare at him in awe? Or are they going to all turn away and look for another star?

Those were his thoughts years ago when he slowly accepted his fate as a hero. But who could've thought? Not him. He thought he would always be that "hero" then. A shining star in the sky, being stared upon by millions of people and being idolized like he's a god. Shining but alone.

Then you came along. No, you were just passing by. Wrong term again. You were robbing a house years ago. He just happened to be there. He was confused. Seeing a thief playing with the housecat they're supposed to be stealing from was never a sight he expected.

And shit.

How dare his lips crack a smile. How dare his body stay frozen and only watch you from afar. 

Yes, he won't lie.

What he did after that is...stalkerish. Tracking you down, trying to find an opportunity to get closer to you. He could easily do that as a hero. Finding you and using his fame to track you is easier but no, that would be too intimidating for you.

A lot of things have happened since then. Fighting aliens was never what he expected to be doing in the future but here he is. And then there's another one, a big change he welcomed wholly, you.

⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩ ⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩

He took off his cape, then glanced at your figure on the bed. You probably fell asleep for a few hours now. He can't blame you, he was gone for a while. He had rescued some people from another alien attack, coming home at midnight just now.

"...Star?"

He calls out just to confirm. When he didn't hear any shift or answer, he walked into the bathroom. After a long day, a warm shower might do him good. Especially after fighting aliens for who knows how long since they attacked suddenly. 

He turns on the shower. The fog blurs the mirror cover as the warm water cascades down his body. It felt...nice. He's not that physically hurt much, but a nice long shower is his go-to after hero work. 

His mind rewinds to that encounter just a few weeks ago. He was testing you and for a moment, he had thought he failed you. If it wasn't for your explanation, he would've...well, made shining the brightest a reality. For you to look for Ray instead of his persona, you know what words to say. 

His mind was cut off when he heard a creak. He looks slightly over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow as he catches your familiar figure in the doorway. 

"Star, I'll finish soon."

He spoke softly, seeing you peeking inside. His eyes met yours and..there was a long moment of staring before you spoke. You just woke up, and your voice is a bit groggy still as you speak.

"Take your time."

You coughed, clearing your throat more clearly before asking.

"Did you just come home?'

He tilts his head back, thinking for a moment before answering. He's not sure whether to face you or if you can see all of him through the shower mirror.

"Yes, a few minutes ago. Sorry, it took longer than expected."

He replied, running a hand over his damp hair. He turns off the shower and you perk up.

"You're leaving?"

He stops in his tracks with your question.

"The shower? Yes."

He answered.

"You usually take long ones."

"Yes, but you're awake."

"You didn't wake me though."

"..."

He turns slightly, glancing at your foggy figure through the shower mirror.

"What do you suggest, star?"

He heard you hum and you stepped closer to the shower mirror door.

"You should take your usual showers. I think I could use one too."

He tilts his head to the left, a small smirk forming his lips but before he could say something suggestive, you spoke again.

"No innuendos."

𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙝, 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨.

He bit his lip to stifle a chuckle before responding.

"Okay, no innuendos for today. Come on then."

He slides the door open and meets you face to face. He leans back against the cold tile.

"Don't tell me you're going in with your clothes on."

"I'm working on it. Patience, hero."

He chuckles as you roll your eyes while he watches you discard your clothes aside. He never thought he would feel so...domestic one day. Once again, you're making him feel things he thought he would never feel.

"I'll hop in now."

You spoke and he nodded. He held a hand to help you in, making sure you wouldn't slip as you stepped inside.

"Comfortable?"

"Hm."

You hum, sliding the door closed. He met your gaze and saw how it dropped to his body.

"...Eyes up here. No innuendos, you say."

He commented and you hit his arm. He laughed a bit while you found an excuse.

"It's an involuntary thing!"

"Right. You checked out people involuntarily, star?"

"I mean..."

He raised a brow when you pursed your lips as if thinking about it. Then you grin and look up at him.

"Only if it's you." 

You spoke so teasingly. He took a discreetly deep breath when you smiled so flirtatiously afterward.

"You like playing dangerous games, star."

"Hey, I said no innuendos."

You spoke and he shook his head, turning on the shower again. He sighs as the water flows down his body, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again to glance at you.

The cap of the shampoo bottle clicks as you open it up. He watches as you squeeze some amount on your palm then looks up at him.

"Come on, duck down a bit."

He smiles in amusement but follows anyway. He turns the shower off again.

"Wait here."

He opens the sliding door and looks beneath the sink where he keeps a shower chair. He steps out for a moment, turning his back to you while he retrieves it.

"𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙚."

He heard your thoughts and he already knew where you were looking. Somehow, your thoughts get louder when you're thinking of risqué things. It amuses him.

"No innuendos, y/n."

He spoke while he was getting the shower chair, using your own words again. He heard you gasp for a moment.

"Don't read my mind."

"I was not, you're thinking too loud, star."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it doesn't."

He walks back and places the shower chair down before closing the door. 

"Do you still have the shampoo on your palm?"

"Hm." 

You hummed and gestured for him to sit down quickly. He follows anyway by sitting down and tilting his head back. He sighs as you massage his hair.

"...Did you insist on joining me just to do this?"

"What? No."

He chuckles.

"You're a very good liar."

You rolled your eyes and continued lathering his hair with shampoo.

"Your hairstyle is very different when you're in your hero outfit."

He sighs.

"Yeah, my makeup artist does that."

"You have makeup artists? Plural?"

He chuckles. His eyes are closed as he answers.

"I do. Appearance and all that."

"Hm. I do like your hair better when it's down though.."

𝙊𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙨 𝙍𝙖𝙮

He opens his eyes.

"Star."

"Hm?"

He pauses for a moment. His lips parted as he thought of how to say it.

"Remember when we met..not exactly the first time but.. when I asked you about your opinion of Binary Star Hero? Back when you didn't know yet it was..me too."

He watches you blink. Your hands slow down in massaging his hair as you think about it.

"Yeah, I do remember."

"You don't like his eyes and smile."

"I don't."

You confirmed. 

"Why is that again?"

You pursed your lips as you thought about your answer before trying to remember how you said it again. Your hands gently run through his shampooed hair.

"Like there was something strange or unsettling with his bright smile and red eyes..?"

He hums, nodding.

"Something like that."

He thinks for a moment before continuing.

"It's like you saw right through me, even on the television screen."

He watches as you chuckle and shake your head.

"I mean, I think I wasn't the only human thinking about it, you know?"

"Maybe."

He reaches for your hand, putting it against his cheek while looking up at you.

"How about mine?"

"Yours?"

"Yeah, mine's. You said you like my hair better when it's down. How about my eyes or my smile?"

He caught sight of how your lips quirked up.

"I like it better too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, your sleepy eyes."

"Sleepy eyes?"

He watches you chuckle as you continue.

"You always have these tired eyes and a smirk. Oh, and the moles too.”

“The moles?”

“Yeah, those moles. It fits you naturally.”

You spoke, remembering when he first stepped into that cafe.

"You were cold by the way, at first."

He chuckles.

"Ah, that."

"Yeah, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩."

"Don't you like cold guys?"

"What? No."

"You found me good-looking though."

"I---Did you read my mind that time?"

You confronted and he hums, closing his eyes.

"Wash my hair, please. I'm going to turn blind and you won't see my tired eyes again."

He evades the question although you already knew the answer. You sighed and turned the small shower head on to use. The water felt nice as it rinsed the shampoo out of his hair. 

Warm.

Comfortable.

Contentment.

He opens his eyes again once you turn it off. He sat up straight.

"Your turn."

"My turn?"

"Yes, star. Your turn.”

He replied as he reached for the shampoo bottle again. He watches you sit down on the shower chair now.

"The chair is comfortable."

"I got it as a gift."

"A gift?"

You ask and he nods, washing your hair gently before lathering it with shampoo.

"I think it was a fan gift or something."

"A fan gave you...this?"

"...You'll be surprised by what kind of gifts they sent me."

"I don't know if I should be creeped out."

He stifled a chuckle.

"Fans are...fans."

You nod. He watches your eyes close as he gently washes your hair. His fingers prevent the water from pouring down your face. His eyes take note of each of your features, etching them into his mind.

"Done."

He spoke, turning the water off and helping you up. He smiles at you after putting away the shower chair.

"Come here. Soap next."

He watches as you raise an eyebrow.

"No innuendos?"

"You should be the one asking yourself that."

He replied as you pursed your lips slightly. 

"Your hands tend to wander, star."

He continued, seeing the slight flush of your face. 

"That makes me sound like a pervert."

"Are you not?"

"I am not!"

He laughs. His shoulders shake as he covers his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Fine, soap up my back then?"

"Your back?"

"Yeah, no wandering."

You grinned and he shook his head, pointing a finger at you.

"Bad star."

"I wasn't even saying anything."

"I could hear the gears turning in your head."

"I won't wander!"

You promised and he cocks an eyebrow.

"Promise?"

"...promise."

He bites his lip to stop laughing at the hesitation in your voice.

"Here."

He gave the soap to you, entrusting it to your hands before turning around. He could hear how giddy you were deep inside your mind as you soap up his back. Your hands lingered on his shoulder and traced the lines on his back down his waist then up again. At least, you haven't wandered yet.

"...Can I soap up the front too?"

He turns to you with an amused smile. 

"Since you didn't wander off, I could trust you just a little bit."

He watches you smile up to him with sparkles in your eyes. He shakes his head and reaches for your hand, placing it against his chest.

"Careful, okay?"

"I won't stray from the top. I promise."

"Good star."

He lets go of your hand and lets you begin. Watching you soap his chest and then up his shoulder, he sighs. He pushes stray hair behind your ear.

"You're soaping my chest too much."

He pointed out, which you just shrugged at before lowering your hands to his abdomen. He could practically hear your thoughts again. Your 𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙 thoughts. 

He clears his throat.

"Remember your promise?"

"Hm? Oh, I do."

You replied, glancing up at him as if innocent from what you were thinking just now.

"...I think I'm full of soap now."

"You are?"

He covers a laugh, gently stealing the soap away from your hand while you sulk a bit.

"Yes, you’ve done enough.”

“I’m not soap up yet.”

Your response made him quirk an eyebrow, a bit caught off guard. He saw the satisfaction in your eyes while watching the slight tint of red on his cheeks.

“Is that an invitation?”

He questioned to which you responded with an innocent smile once again.

“I was just saying. Why? Are you offering?”

𝘿𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧.

You give him a smirk and he turns the shower on. The sudden spray of warm water surprises you as it hits your direction.

“Wha—Hey!”

You protested. He laughs before turning it off.

“There, I can soap you up now.”

“A little warning is much appreciated.”

“Well, your thoughts need some cleansing.”

“Don’t intrude my thoughts now!”

He laughs, guiding you softly to turn around. His hands massage your shoulder, attempting to calm you down and apologize. 

“Okay, okay, that was my bad.”

He spoke with a chuckle, pressing a quick kiss between the juncture of your shoulder and neck. 

“You’re a bad hero.”

You commented and he laughed more against your now wet skin from the shower. He placed one final kiss against the same spot before spreading the soap on his hands. He gently lathers up from your shoulder.

“Feels good?”

“Hm. I’m still deciding.”

He shakes his head in mirth at your hard-to-get attitude but continues to massage your muscles while lathering your back with soap.

“You feel tense here.”

“Where?”

“Here.”

He pressed further just below your lower back. He smirks up as he hears a satisfied moan leave your lips. 

“So?

“Y...Yeah, that felt good.”

He hums in satisfaction, wrapping his arms around your waist. He rests his chin on your shoulder as he hugs you from behind.

“We should get you a better bed. That might help these muscles.”

“We don’t need to. I’m just getting older.”

“You speak like you’re sixty.”

You roll your eyes. He felt you leaning back against his chest. He catches your eyes when you tilt your head up slightly to look at him.

“You don’t get back aches?”

“Normally? No. Only if I hit the wall hard during a fight.”

“A wall? Are you sure your spine is still in proper shape?”

“I am. I go to check-ups for a reason.”

You hum. He watches as you close your eyes as if savoring the peacefulness surrounding the both of you in the shower. The only sound is their breathing and the water droplets from the faucet.

His thumbs put firm pressure on the spots on either side of your lower back again. He savors your soft moan as he gently massages the area in circles, relieving the tension stored in it.

“..Ray?”

“Hm?”

There was silence for a moment although he already knew what you were trying to say. He can read how your mind goes that way and he had to stifle a chuckle until you finally voice it out.

“You’re poking me.”

“Your mind described it as throbbing.”

“Ray!”

“You were making sweet sounds.”

He replied and pulled away. He leans back against the cold tiled walls and crosses his arms. He watches as you turn around to glance at him. Such a curious cat to even take a peek down his body. Shameless. 

He chuckles and turns on the shower, spraying the both of you underneath.

“Come, let’s wash up before you break your promise.”

The shower routine felt more domestic than he expected. Although there were some teasing moments and how he tried ignoring your thoughts, he managed to finish up. He dries his hair with a towel while you're dressing yourself into your usual pajamas. He's on his sweaters now as well.

"It's so early.."

He heard your comment. He glances at the clock. It is early, only two hours past midnight.

"Sleepy again?"

He asks and you shake your head.

"I can't sleep now."

He hums. That's what you always say when asking to cuddle with him.

"Ray, cuddle with me."

𝙃𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙞𝙩.

He glances at your figure on the bed through the mirror. He's getting used to this more and more, and looking forward to you asking him like this every night.

"Move a bit to the side."

He walks closer and settles down beside you on the bed. His arm propped up while resting his cheek on his hand.

"Alright, scoot closer."

And you did. He sighs and cups your cheek with one hand, gently caressing it with his thumb.

"Are you gonna kiss me goodnight?"

You asked.

𝙉𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧.

He chuckles, his cheeks tinting a bit. You could be bold in one minute.

"You want me to?"

"I think it would make me sleep easier."

"You always say that."

"And I always fall asleep after."

He can't say anything against that. You do fall asleep quickly afterward. His kiss somehow feels like a magic kiss at this point. 

"Ray?"

He shifted, leaning closer. His thumb is still caressing your cheek before his hand slides down your chin. He tilts your head slightly.

"Goodnight kiss it is then."

He replied and pressed a kiss to your forehead, then down to your nose, and finally, captured your lips with his. You welcomed him, even pulling him close. His lips move sweetly and gently against yours, deepening the kiss. 

It felt...nice being accepted like this. Just a few years ago, he let you get away with robbing the house of a legislator. Now, he's letting you steal his heart away.

[reverie-starlight]

gn!reader, no physical descriptions. one tiny mention of skipping breakfast, but that's it. FLUFF!! I’ve missed writing for knb!! I love kagami so much, take this as my warm up to get used to writing him again.

based on prompt 3 from this list :)

“you’re so warm and soft,” you mumble, leaning against kagami as you both wait in line at the grocery store. “it’s so unfair.” he’s decked out in a black hoodie, some jeans, and a tuque you had insisted he wear before leaving the house.

your boyfriend, who is apparently a walking space heater, somehow doesn’t seem to be affected by the winter chill that you’re dreading having to face when you're done paying.

kagami chuckles, rubbing your back up and down. “thanks, you’re shivering.”

you glare up at him and he holds you steady as you both shuffle forward a bit more. "don't you, like, hate the cold? how haven't you been complaining at all today?"

he snorts. "because we're inside, babe. besides, it's a short walk from here to the car, I can handle that no problem."

you roll your eyes and press your forehead against his chest. "unfair," you repeat.

"well maybe you'd be warmer right now if you had eaten a full breakfast." he chides, reminding you of how hungry you are and souring your mood a bit.

your face scrunches up. "I told you I'd eat after getting back! and in my defense, we didn’t have anything to make for breakfast to begin with since someone used up the last of my oatmeal."

instead of responding, your boyfriend turns you around so you can get ready to shuffle forward again and greet the cashier now that it's your turn to check out.

the girl, probably no older than seventeen, glances up briefly with a polite smile at you and kagami before doing a double take. you grin slightly as she watches him load your haul onto the belt, clearly recognizing him from somewhere.

now that he's made a name for himself in the NBA, more people have been noticing him, and you find it endearing. he gets so uncharacteristically shy interacting those who recognize him, and today is no different, apparently, because you see his cheeks turn pink as he keeps his head down, probably feeling her gaze on him.

you think she's about to ask him a question before shaking her head and snapping her mouth shut. she finishes scanning the items and asks you "um, how would you like to pay?"

you realize your mistake too late and scramble to answer her while fishing out the cash from your wallet, but kagami beats you to it. "card."

you glare up at him, forgetting any adoration you'd been feeling for him moments ago. "no way, it's my turn."

he shrugs and tries to insert his card into the machine but you block him. "taiga!"

this happens every time you go out together.

you’ve turned it into a competition of sorts, to see who’s faster and can pay first. it’s not like there’s a prize, or anything at all to be gained, really…

except the satisfaction of winning.

you were in the lead, well on your way to securing a two point gap, but now you’re back to being tied.

it’s clear that any embarrassment he was harbouring is gone as he looks at you, cocky grin playing on his lips and determination clear in his eyes. "just let me, I already had my card out anyway. it's fine, baby, you can take the loss."

you look behind him, still blocking the machine and realize the line is continuously growing. deciding it's not worth making a scene and holding all those people up, you very reluctantly lower your arm and start putting the bags back into the cart.

"you're gonna pay for this," you say menacingly as he nods at the cashier in thanks and takes the receipt.

he snorts. "I just did. what, have you got short term memory or something?"

"you-" groaning, you pull your hood on and bundle it tightly around your face. it's not as cold now that the sun is a bit higher in the sky, but the wind still feels sharp against your skin. "just don't get too comfortable, alright? who knows when I could strike."

he shakes his head in amusement and helps you load everything into the trunk of your car. "alright, alright. let's get you home so you can actually eat something."

_______________________________________________

BONUS:

after you get home and settle on the couch with the hearty breakfast kagami made for you, you scroll on your phone and see a post that catches your attention. you snort and tilt your screen towards the man beside you.

user020125: kagami taiga and his partner were getting groceries where I work today and they were bickering over who was going to pay like an old married couple. romance isn’t dead yet, folks.

“ah jeez,” he groans. “at least no one took a picture this time.”

you giggle and rest your head on his shoulder, staring up at him. “it’s kinda sweet, though, don’t you think?”

“what is?” he asks.

“that we give off old married couple vibes,” you soften your voice a bit and watch him ponder on it.

he nudges your arm nods at your plate, as if to say ‘eat, baby’ which only backs up the comment on your mind.

“I…” he pauses briefly to find the right words.

after a moment he meets your eyes. his normally fiery gaze is now softened, resembling a flickering candle rather than the scorching flames of a forest fire. his entire expression radiates warmth and love.

“I can’t wait to spend all that time with you actually becoming an old married couple,” he murmurs, reaching over to cup your cheek, which is still full with the bite you took. “I couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else, baby.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this is like. extremely short and I apologize for that, but I wanted to write something for him again 🥹

@dira333 this is why I asked you for a random number a while back hehe

@emmyrosee tagging you too, you can’t escape him, sorry :/

[hai7ani]

yves!! the kpop anon here :p i dont know if you already got an ask about this, but what do you actually think about bonten trio? a lot of people say they wouldnt get along, but i like to think that they would😭 what do you think?

Bonten trio

Ngl realistically they don't get along well at all. Especially Ran and Sanzu who has had some kind of vendetta against each other going on since Kantou Manji, so I think it'd be hard for them to be in the same room long hours without some stuff breaking out. I do think that Sanzu in general is a very difficult person to handle as well, hence why. There's of course more stuff between him and the brothers that has made them so hostile with each other.

I think this also applies to all of Bonten in general like they're not bosozoku kids who rev bikes and fight idiots who badmouthed about them anymore. They're wanted criminals who kills and trade drugs/weapons/prostitutes for a living, drive million-dollar cars and stay in penthouses all over the world. They live looking over their shoulders all the time.

Extras

Lore accurate Bonten trio?

Bonten trio only came to be because they're the most popular characters in Bonten, but I think realistically the Bonten trio should be Kakucho, Kokonoi and Takeomi. These three are the real pillars of Bonten. One's in charge of money, one's an advisor who Mikey listens to a lot and plans most things since he does have ample knowledge of the underworld, and one's his left hand who oversees most things in the organisation. Think of Mikey and Kakucho as K-Drama My Name's Choi Mujin and Jung Taeju. Sanzu.... he's always off doing his own thing if not serving Mikey, so I don't think he fits into the list, or he even wants to fit in at all. He doesn't like anybody, doesn't get along with anyone.

Kakucho and Ran

Kakucho and Ran have a decent relationship since last time. They're able to sit together and have a drink from time to time, talk about life, but both are smart and clever enough to respect boundaries and not overstep. They are good with words. But one time Kakucho tried advising Ran on something that he thinks Ran is doing wrong/going off track and Ran got pissed. But they don't argue/go back and forth like Rindou and Kokonoi would, like in Helheim where they quarrelled in front of everyone because of a girl. Instead, a lot of passive aggressiveness and stern tones are used between the two. Sharp mouths and clever minds at work.

Rindou

Rindou doesn't care about anything. I've thought of this before and I really can't see Rindou being involved in the organisation as much. I do think that he tried leaving Bonten after witnessing Mikey kill someone (during the shift from Kantou Manji to Bonten after their win in the Three Deities) and realising the weight of all this, but couldn't, so he stayed, but he doesn't like it. He has the mentality of "I didn't ask to be here, so why should I care?" Something like that. He was only dragged into Kantou Manji/Bonten because South lost.

Kokonoi and Kakucho

Kokonoi and Kakucho have a strict business-only relationship. Other than organisation stuff, do not fucking talk to me. But they're cool with each other to say the least. Nothing wrong with each other.

Takeomi (and Kakucho)

Takeomi has that relationship with everyone but he and Kakucho are the closest/have the most interactions because of their positions (even though it's also pretty clear that they don't fancy each other, Kakucho only entertains Takeomi because he knows how to separate work and personal, Takeomi can't). But even so, Takeomi picks fights the most, probably because of his age multiplied by his position that he thinks it's no problem to order the executives around.

I love this specific panel in chapter 212, I really liked the way Kakucho talked to Takeomi here, like damn Kaku you're quick with it 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

Rindou and Takeomi

Rindou thinks the guy has a special vendetta against him because he keeps biting on Rindou at any chance he gets.

Rindou and Kokonoi

The two have nothing to say to each other. The two might be tied together by some stuff that requires Kokonoi's help since he's in charge of finance, but Rindou thinks other than that he has nothing to talk to with the guy. All of them in general have had interactions with Kokonoi because of this reason. He's a cool guy, but it's strictly business-only (no money no talk) with him.

Mochi

As for Mochi...... I don't know honestly. I don't know much about him because his aura in Tenjiku and his aura in Bonten are completely different. No backstory given either like ZERO. All we know is that he used to fight with the Kawata Twins before Tenjiku and he's a fucking beast. At least for the Haitanis they have delusional-enough fans to make things up. But for Mochi???? Can someone share us some thoughts... I'm not in that radar 😭🙏🏻

Mikey

I don't have anything to say about Mikey because I still don't understand his mind even after rereading the manga. Like. I don't know if it's accurate to say that he doesn't care? He lets them handle things their own way, which to him is considered very lenient (he can be more fearful if he wants, but he doesn't need to, because the others already know better than to get cocky around him) and only gives out approvals. Maybe if he wants something or a certain territory he'll give out orders. But he still has his own methods for handling certain stuff. I like to think that all of them are constantly trying to live under his radar so that nothing troublesome happens. For example, they're handling some stuff, and the one thing they always say as a reminder (either to each other or to underlings) is to "make sure Mikey doesn't know about this" or "make sure you're doing it right. You don't wanna piss Mikey of." Just something along those lines. They won't involve Mikey for petty stuff

Lol i know anon only asked about bonten trio but i wanted to take the chance and talk about the others too. Lmk if yall have any other thoughts lets chatttt

[somereaderinblue]

Your Odysseus of Troy au made me remember a fun fact I discovered when I decided to look up gay relationships in Ancient Greece times

Now everyone probably knows that men sometimes had male partners in Ancient Greece, what most people don't know was that gay relationships was not all that and was actually really complex

Basically, the man who is the 'bottom' in the relationship was seen as to be the 'woman' in the relationship and not be a man in the eyes of Greece society (except for slaves as they weren't seen as human). There was also some weird ideas that if you were the 'bottom' you must be biologically female

Now I don't know about Troy, but it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to think that the Trojans also had the same mindset, which for Odysseus, is not great. He was taken from his homeland with his baby son, married and forced to sleep with someone against his will; yet no one thinks that is messed up and instead focuses on how Odysseus being with Paris does not make him a man and he probably wouldn't be accepted as one by the others in Troy except for Charis, Odysseus's handmaiden

Just the thought that Odysseus is treated as a woman because of his situation with Paris, which he did not consent to, is probably frustrating and a bit humiliating as Odysseus will most likely also not be treated the same after the Trojan war like before he was kidnapped

And if you want to go the route of t4t Odypen this would just mess with Odysseus as he would be thrown back to times before he transitioned with how most of Troy and Paris are treating him

Yes, one of many power plays Paris does is send Odysseus to sit with the rest of the women, i.e. wives, mothers & daughters, during gatherings. It was another bitter pill to swallow but not the most painful one; plus, it let him learn how to weave so he could feel closer to his wife.

Pre-transition, Athena's patronage fended off suitors & Anticlea herself wanted Ody to marry for true love. He wasn't 100% shielded from the uglier aspects that comes with being a woman & he's too sharp to not see the harsh truths behind any sugarcoating but he definitely had it better than most. Post-transition, his parents were supportive, Athena couldn't care less and even gave him top surgery, he had a kindred soul in Penelope & Ithaca's a close-knit community in gen that accepted him a prince who knew what he was doing.

TW: brief mentions of SA, abortion & body dysmorphia

He has none of that in Troy & Paris has made it clear he wants him knocked up. Luckily, Ody knows how to brew an abortifacient/contraceptive to ensure it doesn't happen, giving him some degree of control. He also tries to focus on Telemachus, messing with Paris & aiding Greek from the inside so he doesn't dwell on body dysmorphia.

And as much as I love happy endings, my traitorous mind also can't help but think of angsty long-term consequences like what you mentioned. Odysseus is traumatized, his reputation will never be the same & that's not even getting into what an older Telemachus will have to grapple with. Still, better to face those consequences than avoid them by staying in an even more miserable status quo.

[babyblankyerror]

On the Stanley hit man thing(please note 1: prices are at least semi accurate to the 70s and 2: I have no idea how hitmen work and there’s only so many google searches I’m willing to have in my history. Also the name of The Guy is a reference to an actual person who was related to an actual big US government fuck up):

Rubbing soap and water into well-worn gloves in some gas station bathroom in the middle of the night was, at this point, a new normal for Stanley. There were better ways to do this, he knew that, but patience and a horrifying amount of soap did the job just fine. Better than leaving the gloves on the ground where someone might stumble across them and realise there are small dried splatters on them.

The best way to get blood out of fabric was to wash it out quickly. Flood it with water, then scrub soap into it and try to wear through it with paper towel after paper towel until the water runs clear. It was a similar method to removing paint from a roller or shirt. That meant that Stan could just pretend he’d messed up on some project, for an art class or something. Or was messing around with his brother's paints. There was only so well that could work after years of the same routine, but it still worked so there was no reason to change it.

As he ran the gloves under the faucet again, the water flowed only carrying suds. No more damning pinkish hue. Now he just had to dry them, and that could be done back in the Stanley-Mobile.

First he’d have to leave the gas station. Then call the number given to him last week when he got the job and tell them it was done. He’d learn where to meet them to get the back half of his payment, then he could see how to split it. Enough to keep going went to him, a little bit went towards saving in case of an emergency, and the rest went to his dork of a brother.

The first step, out of all of them, was always the hardest. There are only so many ways you can hide sopping wet gloves, especially when it’s warm enough out that you can’t just wear a bulky jacket with inner pockets.

He folded them in half, longways, and put one in each of his pant pockets. It was as inconspicuous as he could get.

Stan hurried to the door of the bathroom, before opening it at a much more reasonable speed and meandered out of the gas station store. He took special care to walk in plain view on his way out. As much as he’d love to skirt around the edge of the store to keep out of view, that would only look suspicious and risk drawing attention.

As the store door closed behind him he let his shoulders drop slightly and fished his gloves out of his pocket as well as his keys. His car was parked right outside so there was no need to separate the actions.

Unlocking the door he sat down in the driver’s seat. He already had a small towel on the passenger side of the bench seats. He dropped the gloves on the towel before swinging his door shut, sticking his key in the ignition, and starting the engine. There was a pay phone a few blocks down, but having just left the store he should still move his car.

It was funny how despite about… three years, he wants to say, he still was always on edge after a job. It made sense, considering that the jobs he took consisted of killing people, but it was still a lot of time to adjust to it. At least the pay was good, and he had ways to get through the actual murder part.

Just line up the shot, and count to three. If you make it to three you might chicken out and fail, or if you aren’t sure of aim you might panic since they keep breathing after the shot. Not to mention you leave a distinctive trace of who’s done it with the bullet. But guns left less room for regret and letting them live than knives or fists. It helped that he pulled the trigger on two, before his mind could catch up to what he was doing. By the time he was weighing whether or not he should do it, he was already checking to see if any blood was on him. Usually just his hands if he got close, but on occasion a drop or two would land elsewhere on him.

Shoes he filed the treads off left no recognizable prints as he would walk away.

The drive to the pay phone was silent beyond the low rattling of the engine. Shifting gears and parking the car was so automatic that if he was asked if he’d done it or not he genuinely wouldn’t know the answer. He took a few coins out of the cup holder and a note from where it was tucked into his front visor.

The air had the everpresent heat of summer, only cut through by a slight wind. He vaguely wondered if it was similar weather where Ford was. Sure Indiana was northeast of Arkansas, but it couldn’t account for that great of a change in weather. Especially since there would be enough plants to keep the heat in at night as opposed to if Ford was in the desert out West. Ford should have been in the desert out West, or at least just near it. He’d driven through the west coast once, it went from desert to a small bit of forest by the coast.

He slotted a coin into the phone and punched in the numbers written on the little sheet of paper. It rang for a few moments before someone answered with a tired ‘hello’. Made sense, it was probably around midnight.

“Is this S Higgins?” Stanley asked, staring up at the sky. The town was big enough that the lights faded some of the stars out. Probably for the best, Ford always liked the stars and it was best to not think about Ford when on the call with a client. His voice got too soft, and when your voice gets soft suddenly everything is up for negotiation.

“It is. I take it, you've done it?” The voice on the other end of the line replies. Always with euphemisms and never saying what they asked for. They wanted someone dead and now they’re dead, and he’s the only one that has to face it.

“Yup. You can check; Kelly on York street- dead center of Warren.” Stan says. He knows they won’t check, but it’s always best to give the information so there’s never any doubt he’s done it. It’ll be in the headlines anyways, Warren doesn’t seem like a place where a double homicide goes unreported on. A lovey dovey couple who just so happened to know a few details problematic to an ongoing political career.

“Is Ray’s in Monticello in three days good for you?” Came from the phone, crackly and disconnected. Three days, enough time for news and an investigation to start. Also enough time to plan out where to go next. There were certain people who talked, and it was through that grapevine his name got spread around. Or more accurately his license plate and car’s description did, it was not exactly inconspicuous, and with that ways to contact him. He just had to go wherever people who knew people that might want someone dead were. So pretty much anywhere, but he’d been thinking about seeing New Orleans so maybe he’d head there. And if nothing came up he was certain to find something in Mobile.

“Around lunch?” He asked. The least suspicious time of day. You could openly talk about his work at lunch and it would be taken as a joke. Because it’s the middle of the day and no actual plots could ever take place in the middle of the day.

“See you then.” The words came out and were quickly followed by a clack and silence. He set the phone up and made his way back to the Stanley-Mobile.

Monticello was less than twenty miles away. He could get there and get a motel room that night. But Warren was a small town and the newcomer disappearing the night of two murders would put the cops on his tail, so he swung around and headed back towards the motel he’d gotten a room at here.

The fact he didn’t immediately collapse meant he must have been running on adrenaline, and so rather than fight it for sleep he got his things packed. He’d sleep in and leave at a reasonable time in the morning before heading to Monticello. That seemed ideal.

———

Over the next couple days the only notable occurrences were the headlines about what he’d done, and him visiting the Allen House. From murder to the suicide house tourist trap. Way to go him!

Stanley had to admit though, while the ‘hauntedness’ of the Allen House left something to be desired he enjoyed the fun romp. He could do it better if he wanted to, but that would mean getting a house which would probably require legal documents that were left back in the apartment on top of a pawn shop in Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey. Or he could do it illegally, which was much more likely, but at this point too much of a hassle when his current gig worked just fine.

Noon was approaching though so he turned on the Stanley-Mobile and headed towards Ray’s.

The diner was somewhat cosy despite having a metal back wall that looked like that of a storage container. Probably the warm lighting, benches, and soft music playing from a radio on the counter. He grabbed a table by a window, staring out of it to wait.

After a few dozen minutes of nothing he decided to go ahead and order some fries and a burger, making sure it wasn’t enough he could reasonably eat. He got a to-go bag after picking at them for what he deemed a good amount of time.

It was maybe another half hour or a bit longer when he watched a slightly too-clean Pacer roll up. A man who looked like he’d just been told what ‘casual’ meant last night stepped out and headed towards the diner. That was, without a doubt, Higgins then.

When he walked in the door Stanley waved him over, calling his name with a slight cheer as the man came over.

“You did… the job.” Higgins muttered, pulling a chair opposite Stanley’s spot on a padded bench and shuffling to sit down.

“I did. It’s on the news if you need to check.” Stanley said, leaning back slightly.

“I… I already saw the news. I have the money.” Higgins said, pausing to hum and haw before continuing, “Three thousand, right? Here, in cash.” Higgins said, reaching into a pocket on the inside of his clearly not weather appropriate jacket. And right. Stanley really should remember to get checks and not cash. Checks were easy to hide, especially since he went about being a contract killer in the dumbest way. Instead of just getting in with one group and staying there with a consistent pay and a good public facing business set up for him, he traveled around and essentially worked commission. Granted he got his start making enemies, so maybe staying in one place wasn’t the best. Especially when he could then work for just about anyone he deemed not an immediate risk, instead of just one organization. No matter what though, he should get better about checks instead of cash. Too late now though. Stanley held his palm out and felt a small stack of hundred dollar bills hit his hand, with no small amount of worry. He clutched the bills and tilted his palm down, hiding them from any quick glances.

Stanley dropped the bills into the to go bag as he reached in, and pulled out a small container with the fries.

“I have extra if you want.” He said, opening the lid and turning them towards Higgins. The man seemed to writhe in his chair, face morphing into a performance of guilt. He was certainly new to this. Higgins got up with a rushed apology and excuse of having to get back home. Stanley watched him go and placed the fries back in the bag. Well, to the bank then. He should deposit the cash slowly, he knows this, but he’s fairly certain that the new semester is starting m at Backupsmore which means Ford will need to be spending his money on textbooks. Which means Stanley is going to be extra sure to pay for his tuition.

Stanley’s pretty sure he caught an article about Ford and some other guy proving something or other about the universe, and a few more campus newspapers mentioning the two of them spending time together. So his brother finally made a friend! He’d drive up and hug the nerd out of pride if he weren’t certain Ford wouldn’t be too willing to speak to him. He did figure though, that he had enough saved for an emergency that what he’d usually cut out of his pay for à ‘just in case’ could go to Ford’s friend instead. A brief line of phone books and library visits, as well as word of mouth, made it clear that the guy was also the first of his family to go to college. And was riding on a couple scholarships in order to just cover tuition, but probably still had to take out a loan or two. He wasn’t going to risk Ford’s friend having to drop out and leave him alone due to finances.

The face of the bank teller was of mild confusion when he went to deposit five hundred dollars. Just because he wasn’t waiting to deposit the money didn’t mean he was an idiot. He was just going to spend the day hopping between a few banks to do it in chunks. Stil suspicious on paper but he has a current guise of being ‘an artist’ so sudden large deposits because he ‘sold a painting’ at least didn’t get too many questions.

At the end of it all he ended up sending one thousand five hundred to Ford’s annual tuition, so he should be set for a while longer. Though the idiot of a genius was taking twelve different full courses and each individual course has its own lesser tuition so it wasn’t the full semester it would have been if his brother knew how to stop. Frankly that had been the main reason he’d stepped in, Ford probably could have managed the tuition for one or even two or three courses on his own but somewhere in his mind he’d decided that taking twelve was a good idea. Stanley’s sure Ford could have figured it out, but that’s his brother and he didn’t want Ford to have to figure it out.

He sent seven hundred to Ford's friends’ tuition after some double checking names, and so the apparent Fiddleford McGucket had one less thing to worry about.

That meant he had eight thousand remaining, he wouldn’t have to take another job for a while. A long while. Maybe he just goes to New Orleans as a vacation.

~~~~~~

Ford and Fiddleford were staring at the Backupsmore administrator. They’d gone to check up on what they had to pay for tuition, only to find out that not only had Ford’s gotten a significant amount paid(which was becoming an odd yet consistent occurrence) but Fiddleford’s as well.

The money had been wired in, which meant whoever sent it had a known bank account, but had apparently mandated anonymity. As far as the school administrators were aware, it could have been the king of England sending the money.

The walk back to their dorm was shared in stunned silence. It wasn’t until Ford was sitting on his bed that Fiddleford stopped pacing and stared out the window before gripping his hair and yelling, in the whisper yell mandates by shared walls, cried out.

“WHAT in the world is GOIN’ ON.”

Fiddleford turned to Ford, lowering his hands to gesture in confused annoyance.

“Well, we know whoever is sending this must have a lot of money on hand. And we have been covering a lot of neuroscience, and specifically how to alter brains- right? It’s probably some larger entity with stakes in our current research.” Ford posed, though his voice still tilted with unsureness.

“True, but you started getting the payments before the whole tie thing. So there must have been some sort of investment before then.” Fiddleford argued. Ford shrugged.

“I mean, I suppose the sheer number of courses I was taking may have been noteworthy?” He offered.

Fiddleford began to pace muttering to himself, before an idea seemed to strike him.

“Hey, if we can get into the school records and figure out what bank the money has been being wired from, maybe we can call them and ask for information?” Fiddleford suggested. Ford took a moment to think through the idea, before grinning and jumping up.

“Exactly! Even if we can’t get a name, we’ll still get a rough area and we can go through phone books until we find someone who has a ridiculous amount of disposable cash and a vested interest in both of us!” He exclaimed.

They were probably going to have to break into an office or something, hopefully childhood shenanigans with… his childhood shenanigans would help with that.

Bro you need to publish this on ao3 or post it on tumblr or SOMETHING because HOLY SHIT?!??!?!

THIS is exactly what I was imagining for the Au!!! This is fuckkng great!!! I LOVE LOVE THIS AND YOU AND AAAAAAAA

I imagine Fiddleford doesn't really worry about the random money Ford gets until HE starts getting it too. Then yeah he's freaking out because WHAT THE HECK??

I love this you wrote this so well, so nice and omg??? You did research??? That's more than I'd ever do XD

[altaiiriss]

On my queerplatonic series

tw: this post revolves around the headcanon that dazai has ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder). if that triggers you, do not read further. stay safe!

while outlining dazai's character for my queerplatonic series (link here) i decided that he struggles with food. it's not the "typical" eating disorder, though.

dazai isn't obsessed with his body shape, doesn't care about keeping track of the amount of calories he's ingested, and isn't terrified of gaining weight if he eats more.

his distorted relationship with food originates from his general lack of interest in things, which includes food as well.

a lot of people headcanon dazai as someone who doesn't eat much, and i agree with that. dazai is so dominated by conflicted feelings and his intrinsic "fear" of desiring anything for himself that he just... doesn't have much interest in food.

to him the whole act of eating is a bother, a mere bodily function he wishes to avoid. sometimes when he's lying on his futon his stomach would start rumbling, but dazai couldn't bring himself to get up and eat something. he has no appetite, what's the point?

he doesn't even get much joy from eating. he loves crab, sure, but that's more of a safe food than anything, a sort of parachute preventing him from free falling into the depths of starvation.

this disorder manifested in a particularly intense way during the mafia years. it wasn't a safe environment at all, and dazai's mental health got in the way of his eating habits.

chuuya would forcefully shove some food down his throat sometimes. he's naturally a caretaker after all, he used to steal food for his friends when he was the leader of the sheep—hell, he even gave his mediocre portion away if some other kid was still hungry. how could he ignore that dazai was basically starving himself?

hirotsu would give him some candies and chocolate bars. even kouyou, who never liked him that much, invited him to drink some tea with her and chuuya in the afternoon.

dazai was getting progressively skinnier with each passing day, and in return chuuya got progressively angrier at him because the brunet would lose focus and dissociate on the battlefield or, worse, collapse from starvation ("it's not like i care about you or something, okay!? i just want to complete this mission and go home." )

it didn't happen that much, but dazai actually did collapse sometimes and chuuya made sure to get insanely mad at him and remind him that he needs three fucking meals a day to survive. dazai would fight back and scream at him with all the strength in his lungs ("this is none of your business. who do you think you are? why don't you go take care of your friends' graves and leave me alone?" )

sooo yep, they used to fight about this a lot, but as long as dazai ate something chuuya was okay with putting up with his shitty demeanor. he didn't mind fighting every other day if it meant dazai actually put some nutrients in his body.

leaving the mafia and joining the agency (plus seeing a psychiatrist, courtesy of yosano's perseverance) did wonders to his mental health, and his food habits changed as well.

his brain is nowhere near 100% functional, let's be clear—he still gets bad days and relapses in his old harmful habits, and he even ghosted his therapist at some point because that shit scares him. but being in a happier and safer environment helps for sure.

sometimes his coworkers share their lunch with him and even though dazai doesn't eat much, they never pressure him to take more bites.

when they host small parties in their office, dazai never leaves without eating something. who would have thought kunikida was such a great cook?

and yosano's small cakes? they are delicious. the strawberry one is his favourite.

since their reunion—which led to their confession and their decision to cherish the non-romantic and non-sexual connection that binds their souls together—chuuya learnt to deal with this aspect of dazai properly.

back in the mafia he was just a kid who knew nothing (damn, he literally raised himself on the streets, and that's why he's always been open about being gay—he literally had no idea homophobia was a thing) and the way he approached dazai's struggles wasn't even remotely healthy.

but chuuya grew over the years. not physically (much to his dismay), but he joined online communities, learnt a lot about mental disorders and read about people's experiences.

when he stumbled across an article describing a situation similar to dazai's, everything made sense.

"perhaps you view eating as a chore because no one has ever cooked a meal for you with love?" his therapist had asked once, and dazai had laughed at her.

but when chuuya cooked him a meal while he was running a fever, something shifted.

he never believed in such things, yet he could swear he tasted chuuya's feelings as he ate the soup on his plate.

care. worry. adoration.

love, even?

this is hilarious.

another day chuuya taught him the basics of cooking ("if eating bores you to death, then try eating something you have made. it's satisfying, you know? because you made it with your own hands." )

dazai hates when chuuya is right.

aaaand here we are in the current timeline of my series.

dazai is far from being perfect but he's doing infinitely better. he still doesn't have a big appetite, but he eats way more than he used to. most importantly, food generally tastes nice on his tongue now.

he still relapses in his old mindset sometimes—it's okay, that's part of the healing process—but there are a lot of people who have his back now.

he's loved and cherished and doesn't have to face the world alone anymore.

[6rookie-writer0110]

Unwavering hearts

Sam LaRusso x Male Reader

Request; Sam Larusso x male reader who is Tory’s twin brother. They meet in 2x04 and get along quite well before the feud with Tory starts. After the school fight reader comforts Sam and apologies for what Tory did and leaves Cobra Kai reader helps Sam raise money for Miguel’s surgery

You are at the contury club with Tory, she introduced you to Aisha.

“Aisha was telling us that she takes karate lessons at a place called Cobra Kai,” Tory said

“We took kicking boxing before it was free at the gym but they closed it down,” You said.

“That would come in handy. I mean if you guys decide to join. Because of Cobra Kai, i got stronger” Aisha said

“That’s cool. We could check it out” Tory said

“Yeah, why not” You said

“I will text you the address,” Aisha said

“Cool. So only rich people can walk in here?” Toru said

“Yeah. But if they invited you as a guest then it's fine” Aisha said.

Tory and Aisha continued to talk while you went to the bathroom. Aisha introduced Tory to Sam it didn't go well for long. Sam accused Tory of stealing her mom’s purse and Tory denies it. Sam tried to grab Tory’s bag but they started to pull it away from each other then Tory pushed Sam and she fell on the table filled with food. You were heading back when you saw Tory and Aisha walk away. But you helped Sam stand up

“What happened?” You asked

Sam walks away and you feel bad. You go after Sam and you randomly grab a towel from a beach chair.

“Here,” You said.

“Who are you?” Sam asked

She grabbed the towel and headed to the bathroom. You wait outside but you open the door

“My name is Y/N!” You yelled

You let the door close. You waited for a while but Sam came out of the bathroom.

“You didn't have to wait but thank you for the towel. My name is Sam” Sam said.

“I saw what happened,” You said

“I feel embarrassed right now,” Sam said

“Don’t feel embarrassed. One time in public I spilled a whole cup of slushie it was red and I had on a white shirt” You said

Sam couldn't help to smile a bit.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh,” Sam said

“It’s fine. Now you are not the only one who should feel embarrassed. I just told a stranger what happened to me” You smiled

“That took guts, Y/N,” Sam said

You and Sam kept smiling at each other.

——-

Sam was surprised to see you at school. But she isn't happy to see Tory, she did try to apologize but it didn't go well. Tory and Sam are now enemies and she was surprised to find out she is your sister. But Sam kept talking to you and she started to develop a crush on you.

“Are you lost?” Sam asked

“I can't my next class which is science with MR. Thomas” You said

“You have that class with me, I will show you the way,” Sam said

You smiled at her and she did smile but looked away. While walking to class, Tory sees you talking to Sam.

“Watch it, Y/N she will accuse you of stealing,” Tory said

“Tory,” You said.

“Don't get involved” Tory said.

“You two should just talk it out and clear the air,” You said.

Tory walks away.

“She made up her mind,” Sam said

Sam walks away and you are stuck in the middle. After School, you and Tory go with Aisha to Cobra Kai. Johnny made you and Tory fight the current students to see how good you two are. You and Tory high-five each other when he says you two are in.

✫ ✬ ✫ ✬

You noticted the feud between Tory and Sam is getting out of control. You tried to be the peacemaker but it's not working and Tory is very stubborn.

“I’m sorry for my sister what did to you” You said

“Why are you apologizing for her?” Sam asked

“I have to defend her,” You said

“Forget it,” Sam said

You catch Sam leaving the nurse’s office and you start to walk with her.

“It’s impressive that you know karate,” You said

“Thanks. I have been taking karate since I was small. Do you know karate?” Sam said.

“Little bit. I started taking lessons but I took kicking boxing before. Do you want to hang out?” You said

“Sure” Sam smiled.

You wanted to cheer her up. You took Sam to get pizza then you and Sam walked on the beach for a little while. You and Sam are starting to open up to each other and you can't stop smiling at her, you have strong feelings for her.

———

You are home on the couch and you are texting Sam. You and Sam do text a lot and start spending more time with each other.

“Why are you smiling at your phone?” Tory asked

“Mind your business,” You said

“Let me see!” Tory yelled

She tries to see who you are texting. You didn't want to tell her it was Sam. You tried to put your phone away but she almost grabbed it. But you moved away and put it inside your shorts.

“Gross, you are dating someone” Tory teased

“Shut up,” You said.

“So who are you dating?” Tory asked

“I’m not telling you. You are my sister I’m not going to tell you about my dating life” You said

“It’s not much of dating life, since you have one girlfriend ever” Tory teased

You throw the cushion pillow at her and she laughs. You go to your room and you start to text Sam again.

——-

Time Skip…

You are at the dojo and you are feeling frustrated. You don't like the lessons that Kreese is teaching you and always brings you down. Since he took over the dojo has felt like a circus and he is very toxic.

“Stop being grumpy,” Tory whispered

“You know I’m right” You whispered

“He is better than Johnny. Just stop being grumpy, you act like an old man” Tory whispered

You are taking karate lessons with your sister Tory. Johnny used to teach but Kreese takes over, Tory and the others like him except for you and Miguel. But your sister thinks you are overreacting but you tell her that you're not.

“Y/N, step to the mat,” Kreese said

“Yes, sensei,” You said

You stand in front of him.

“There will be no talking when I’m teaching,” Kreese said

“Sorry, sensei,” You said

“You will fight me and I will show you why -”

You let your guard down, and Kreese kicked you in the stomach. Then he grabbed your uniform and flipped you onto the mat.

“What did I tell you about letting your guard down, Tory?” Kreese yelled

You are breathing hard.

“Don’t let your guard down and show no mercy, sensei!” Tory yelled

“Listen to your sister, Y/N. Get back in line” Kreese said

You stand up and you are still breathing hard. You continue to train but Kreese keeps picking on you. You are trying hard to hold in your anger.

After karate, your sister takes you to the gas station to buy slushies, to cheer you up.

“You think this is going to cheer me up?” You asked but you still drink it.

“Yeah. And you did put every flavor in one cup like always. Don't let him get to you, he knows what he is doing” Tory said.

“Whatever. Let's go home” You said

You and Tory go home.

✫ ✬ ✫ ✬

Sam and Tory fought again and you apologized to Sam. She hates that you keep apologizing for your sister. You went to visit Sam at her house and you are in her bedroom.

“Just stop it, Y/N,” Sam said.

“I’m sorry,” You said

“Please stop apologizing for your sister,” Sam said

You put the ice pack on her hand, then she puts her hand on top of your hand.

“I quit Cobra Kai,” You said.

“Why?” Sam asked.

“The new sensei Kreese is horrible and toxic. Tory stayed but I couldn't” You said

“Are you going to take karate lessons again? You are getting stronger” Sam said.

“Maybe, well i don't know,” You said

“I think you shouldn't stop,” Sam said.

You and Sam stare at each other, then you lean in and kiss her on the lips. She starts to kiss you back and she puts her hand on your cheek.

——-

Tory and Sam were fighting again at school. You tried to stop them but Miguel got hurt badly from falling off the balcony because of Robby. You start to help Sam raise the money but Tory is keeping her distant from everyone. You would do anything to help Sam and she is happy that you are on her side.

“Thanks, Y/N for helping,” Sam said.

“You don't have to thank me,” You said.

“I do,” Sam said.

Sam and her friends would wash cars while you collected the money.

——

You find out that Johnny created Eagle Fang, and you decide to join. Johnny would teach the class in different locations parks, warehouses, and anywhere that he can find a space. Tory doesn't want to leave Corba Kai, you would argue with your sister about it for days and yell at each other.

Sam went to the park and she watched you train. She wanted to surprise you and she took a picture of you doing a high kick. After training you see Sam and go towards her.

“Pretty cool kicks you did,” Sam said

“Thanks. What do you think of the shirt?” You said.

“I like it not bad,” Sam said.

“I can get you a shirt if you want,” You said

You and Sam smiled at each other.

“I will like that” Sam smiled

You invited Sam to your apartment. It is a bit of a mess and she starts to look around the living room, she notices a family picture of you, Tory, and your mom at the beach restaurant.

“Sorry for the mess, we had pizza for dinner. My mom had to work a double shift, but I'm looking for a job to help out” You said

“What about your dad?” Sam asked

“I don't care about him, he left us for a new family. Tory thinks he will come back but he won't, he is dead to me. Can we talk about something else?” You said

“Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad,” Sam said

“I’m not mad at you and you didn't know. We could watch TV or something” You said.

“We could do that,” Sam said.

You and Sam sit on the couch, and you put your arm around her. Instead of watching TV, you and Sam start to kiss each other. It doesn't go further. Her lipgloss goes on your lips and she moves closer to you. Your hand is on your thigh and you two don't hear the keys and Tory walks in.

“Y/N!” Tory yelled.

You move away from Sam then you two stand up. Tory is furious at you, she is glaring at you and Sam.

“You are dating her!?! Out of all the girls, you are dating my enemy!” Tory yelled

“You don't have to yell. Yes, she is my girlfriend but I want you and Sam to get along” You said.

“Are you stupid!?! Why her!? She accused of me stealing her mom’s wallet!” Tory yelled

“We talked about that-”

“I’m going to leave, Y/N,” Sam said.

“I will take you home,” You said.

“No, it's fine. I will get an Uber” Sam said.

“Yeah, you better leave,” Tory said

“Tory!” You yelled.

Sam leaves and she gets an Uber. You and Tory continued to argue and yell at each other.

“Tory, she is my girlfriend and I’m serious. I want you and Sam to get along” You said.

“No! I can't believe you are dating her! Break up with her now!!” Tory yelled

“No! I'm not going to break up with her!!” You yelled

“Yes, you are! Call or text her just break up with her now” Tory yelled

“No!” You yelled louder.

“Get out!” Tory said

“What?” You said confused

“You can't stay here anymore. If you want to be with her then go be with her. I can't trust you anymore” Tory said

“Trust me? Are you serious, Tory?” You said.

Your hands turn into fists.

“Yes, I mean it. Leave now! We don't need you” Tory said

She went to your room and you followed her. She throws your clothes at you and your backpack.

“Leave now!” Tory yelled

“Fine! Don’t call me when you are in trouble” You said angrily

“I don't need you and mom doesn't need you!” Tory yelled

You grab your clothes and leave the apartment. Tory is feeling angry and she heard you slam the door closed. She wipes the tears away and you just rushed out of the building. You don't call Sam, you are still in shock at what just happened with your sister.

✫ ✬ ✫ ✬

You didn't call Sam or anyone. You have been sleeping in the park for two nights. Your sister hasn't called or texted you, and you don't want to talk with her. You are sleeping on the bench then Sam and her parents see you.

“Y/N?” Sam said

You stand up and you try to come up with a lie.

��Oh hey,” You said

“Why are you sleeping in the park?” Sam asked

“Well- I”

“Don’t lie to us” Daniel said

“I’m fine, I just got tired you know,” You said

“It’s almost ten and it's getting colder,” Sam said.

“What is really going on, Y/N?” Amanda asked

“Okay fine. I was kicked out of my house. I didn't call you, Sam because I didn't want to look - I just don't know why I didn't call you” You said frustrated

Sam hugged you and you hugged her back. Daniel and Amanda looked at each other

“Stay with us, Y/N. We can't let you stay here and it's not safe. You can stay with long as you need” Daniel said

“I don't have a job to pay rent,” You said

“You don't have to worry about that. You can stay at the pool house but we have rules that you will need to follow” Daniel said

“I understand,” You said

“What happened?” Amanda asked

“Tory found out that I’m dating Sam. She made me pick and I couldn't then she kicked me out and I just left. I have been sleeping in the park for two days” You said.

Sam told her parents before that you are her boyfriend. You leave with them and Sam is holding your hand. While in the back seat and going home, Daniel and Amanda are telling you the rules. They show you the pool house then Amanda cooks dinner for you. You start to eat fast and haven't eaten anything for two days.

“Babe, slow down,” Sam said

“Sorry. I haven't eaten anything in two days and the food tastes so good when it's not frozen” You said

You continued to eat fast and your shirt got dirty. Sam couldn't help to laugh and you asked for more food. After eating dinner, you are in the pool house talking to Sam. You changed the subject then you cuddled with Sam for a little while.

[renard-dartigue]

You know, Kendrick receiving the grammys is well deserved. However, a part of me worries about him. On GNX, specifically in 'Wacced out Murals' and 'Reincarnated', Kendrick took his beef with Drake seriously. He was genuinely worried that he and/or his loved ones might be killed. Obviously for us as spectators, it's easy to see this stuff as just music. But the often misunderstood culture this music comes from, while beautiful and inspiring, can become dangerous real quick. It's happened before with Tupac and Biggie.

So naturally Kendrick wasn't going to play around. In a way, he's almost lucky Drake is a poser. Drake may have some dangerous connections or knows someone with dangerous connections given how long he's been in the industry. Thankfully, aside from Drake's bodyguard getting injured, there were no casualties in this beef aside from Drake's reputation and some of Kendrick's friendships.

I'll be honest, the night Meet the Grahams dropped, I was terrified. I saw people joking around about how the track itself scared them. Me, I was scared something bad was going to happen to Kendrick. Either Drake or a benefactor puts out a hit on him. I was so stressed I could barely sleep, scared I'd wake up to tragic knews. Some people joked about how Drake would have to kill Kendrick after this, not realizing that there was a non zero percent chance that could have happened.

And it's clear in GNX that Kendrick was slightly worried as well. 'Reincarnated' highlights that the beef really did mess with him psychology. Not because of anything Drake did but because of the stuff he himself did. Given what we know about Kendrick's character, a dedicated religious father who seeks to uplift his community through song, this beef made him realize some things about himself he never knew.

I personally think Kendrick regrets writing Meet the Grahams. While he may still agree with everything he said, he probably feels ashamed that he let the his emotions get the better of him. Drake slandering his family and childhood friend ignighted a hatered in him he truely didn't realize he was capable of. There is no denying that the song will forever impact not just Drake but his family too, especially Adonis. He might think he took things a step too far.

After cooling off, he likely wrote Not Like Us as a pallet cleanser. Just to deescalate the beef a little. And because it was released soon after the ominous track that is Meet the Grahams, the lighter track hit harder.

Man I feel like I'm just rambling now, point is that I hope Kendrick is doing okay mentally. He portrays himself as tough and unbothered on the outside, likely a coping mechanism he developed while growing up in Compton. But his music proves that he has a big heart and is extremely passionate about hip-hop. I hope he doesn't feel like he just put on some big spectacle for outsider to laugh and clap at before returning to the status quo. He's bringing hip-hop back to it's more authentic roots. It won't happen in a day, but it's a step in the right direction for the genre. And it was going to happen with or without him receiving awards.

[nereidof40k]

Chapter One of the tentatively named

Days of Ultramar.

I have no idea how many chapters, but several for sure.

Honestly, everything aches. But Mirian keeps the smile on her face as she makes her way through the corridors. Years of being reminded she is a Valerius telling her not to show weakness. The expression on her face probably shows more strain than she likes.

The Fortress of Hera looks quite unchanged from her memories. But the different faces is a stark reminder that she is ten thousand years in the future. She can scarcely believe it. Pushing the thought back into a box. If she dwells on it too much she might break down in tears right in the middle of the Fortress.

Finally she arrives at Guilliman’s office door. Knocking firmly on the ornate surface. In no time there is a very deep voice telling her to come in.

Roboute’s eyes widen as his eidetic memory provides a name he has not thought of for a long time. He finds himself standing up. “Mirian? Lady Mirian Valerius?”

The smile on her face brightens, becoming less strained. “Roboute Guilliman. It’s been a long time.”

He rounds his desk with surprising speed for his massive size. Roboute was always tall, but this makes her feel as small as a bug. Especially as he takes her hand and kisses it gently, like a gentleman. His hand could crush both of hers.

“It seems things have changed considerably since I was last here.” She smiles.

At his urging, she tells a story that makes Roboute’s blood boil. Though she doesn’t state it in so many words, it is clear to him that the Inquisition has been less than kind.

He finds himself promising to do everything he can to aid her. She might not be one of his brothers, but here is another person who remembers Ultramar that was. That is something.

She nods. “I’m grateful, Roboute.” Retrieving an ancient dataslate from inside her dress. “I was not the only one thrown into this future. The crew and other passengers will need support to make ourselves a place in this millennium.”

Taking the dataslate, he muses that she is definitely a daughter of House Valerius. They always looked after their own people. Very well known for their philanthropy and dedication.

Reading her report, he finds it is concise and clearly laid out. Not something he expected. But it is gratifying.

“Of course, Lady Mirian. You and yours are more than welcome to stay on Macragge as long as you wish. The extra hands will be very helpful.”

Then, her face grows serious. “What of Calth? The Inquisition made some concerning remarks. I believe a lot have happened in these millennia.”

Roboute wishes his mother was here. She would be far better suited to explaining the utter shitshow of stupidity that has become of his Father’s Imperium.

He guides Lady Mirian to the visitor’s chair, retrieving a dataslate from a drawer. Pulling up the report on the state of the Imperium he compiled after his return, and pulling up the pages on Ultramar.

Passing it to her with a remark that many things have happened.

Watching her read in between his endless paperwork. That fair face turning so pale her freckles look black by comparison. He is impressed by how she does not cry. Emperor knows he wanted to.

Her slender hand reaches out, snatching the glass sitting on his desk.

Pausing with it halfway to her mouth she wrinkles her nose, voice shaky. “While I can use a drink at this point, this might be a little too strong.”

He chuckles ruefully as he takes the glass back. “Far too strong. This is Mjød, a drink from my brother Leman’s homeworld. As far as I know it would make you go blind.”

She leans forward, looking at him intently. “Roboute…how can I help?” Voice heavy with concern.

It’s been so long since anyone addressed him like that. Like a man, not a demigod. She actually seems to see how tired he is.

“We can talk about that tomorrow. You look like you could use some rest, Lady Mirian. I will have someone show you and your party to guest quarters.” He needs to focus. He keeps wanting to go scream at the Inquisition, and that would have horrific consequences.

She nods, standing up regally. “Thank you, Roboute.”

At this very point, an Ultramarine with a plumed helmet enters his office. Cato Sicarius. Who does a double take at the woman standing in his Primarch’s office. Even more so when Roboute introduces Lady Mirian Valerius.

Cato snorts, making a remark about how she is very late to her wedding.

Her explanation about a warp storm does little to mollify Sicarius, so Roboute settles for calling a serf to escort Lady Mirian. Before Cato causes a diplomatic incident.

Fortunately Sicarius is not immune to disappointed looks from his Primarch. Behaving long enough to get Mirian out of there.

Roboute glares at Cato as she leaves. Demanding an explanation for his behavior.

Mirian is glad to be out of there. That was even more awkward than she had feared. Thank goodness for Roboute.

Not wanting to dwell too much on the Marine who looked so much like her Chairon. But he can’t have been. Not with the way he had looked at her so blankly, like a stranger.

She busies herself seeing to the rest of her companions and crew being properly housed, their needs seen to.

This, at least , hasn’t changed. If anything Roboute Guilliman’s household seems to be run so efficiently it would make Tarasha Euten proud.

In the process she does run into a Marine named Uriel Ventris, with a delightfully thick Calth accent. It may not be her Calth, but something does remain of her homeworld. Not everything has ceased to exist.

Far too soon everyone is settled, and so she accepts Ventris’ offer of sharing a drink and talking about Calth.

The place he takes her to is full of Ultramarines, but right now she doesn’t want to be alone with her thoughts. She can deal with a few stares.

Chairon’s attention keeps drifting to the woman talking to Ventris. A baseline sharing a drink with Astartes is strange enough. But the things she speaks of…he is getting more and more certain she somehow remembers his Calth. Her stories are too familiar, so full of raw emotion. Bringing hazy memories of the past into clarity. And the more he watches her talk, the more it feels familiar. Like it’s almost a memory, one he can almost but not quite remember.

Something about that hair, too. The way she gets more and more animated.

Then Sicarius comes over to complain that a woman of her supposed status shouldn’t be drinking so much.

Her response makes Titus wince in sympathy. He is very familiar with the urge to drink after being questioned by the Inquisition.

As Titus gets up to intervene, Chairon feels a strange sensation of jealousy. Like it should be him standing next to her, protecting her.

Cato finally slinks away after she stomps on his foot and calls him on ungentlemanly behavior.

Leaving Titus and Ventris to escort the last daughter of an extinct house safely to bed. Poor thing. She was far less destructive than most, just talkative. Very few people would begrudge her a bit of drinking.

Chairon sits there for what seems like forever, worrying at the almost formed memory. It’s starting to annoy him. But it feels important.

Titus has to carry Mirian into her room. Between them he and Uriel manage to get her sandals off and tuck her into bed. That pretty dress will probably be wrinkled in the morning, but neither of them is going to do anything untoward.

“I’m worried.” Ventris admits as they leave. Titus nods. That is one desperately lonely person. He can relate to having lost everything. And she can’t even get any of it back. The passage of time is cruel like that.

“Should maybe introduce her to Gadriel’s girlfriend.” Titus muses in a low voice. Ventris nods. He’s met Ellie. She might be a good choice, as unforgettable and unstoppable as she is.

[crimsonxe]

To start with the whole point of my response was the fact that I'm a multishipper hence the mentioning of me shipping AmberPrice, Pricefield, and AmberPricefield. In other words I'm not purely a Pricefielder.

1- Shouldn't be that hard to understand. Pricefielders & LGBT+ fans were stabbed in the back by DE in their breaking up a 10+ year iconic LGBT+ pair; doubled in how shittily & disrespectfully as it was done. Michel is one of the OG writers aka fathers of LiS from DontNod who put out a social post saying that Pricefield would never break up; they could have rough patches but never fully break up. He & DontNod are the true canon makers for LiS1 & 2 as those are games helmed by them.

2- Yes, your ass ignoring or trying to handwave away Pricefield's importance and connection = you're a dumabass. Especially since you repeatedly try to do it across at least 3 posts of yours (which you put in the damn Pricefield tag no less; ofc your ass is going to get raked over coals).

Um fuck no, Pricefield should not be "just friends" for your dumbass's preference. My Max didn't sacrifice the Bay because she was just friends with Chloe, she was fully in love with her. Which again was shown once again by DontNod in LiS2-Bae route w/ green-haired Chloe. Have you never heard the stories of sapphic ex's repeatedly getting back together? Also this shit is fantasy not a documentary.

Chloe isn't the past, Chloe is the shining light that came out of the past. Max throwing away the past instead of accepting it and healing from it, then walking forward with a partner who had gone through the same major events as well as shown her devotion to her as much as she had for her = the better damn route that is ACTUAL growth; you wanting her to toss away Chloe in order to make way for Safi IS BIAS.

I never said anywhere that going solo was a bad thing, but even one of the fathers of LiS says that isn't how the two would go.

As already pointed out your dumbass made sure to include Pricefield tag shoving your shit into it. I went through it thinking that surely I'd find a point where I could at least see where you were coming from, a kernel; but nope. I just saw more and more bullshit, so I'm most definitely the opposite of a fan.

You are definitely not a Pricefielder. You can try to slap a fake ass sticker on yourself if you want; but not a damn Pricefielder around would speak like your dumb fucking ass has.

In other words your ass doesn't have a clue about the characters, because I listed out the assassinations that anyone that actually knows the characters would already have caught themselves. No, Chloe breaking up with Max isn't at all fucking realistic or fucking matching to her goddamn character. LiS1 & BtS make it very damn clear that once someone gets past Chloe's mental/emotional walls she's VERY loyal to them. To the point that she hears about Frank and Rachel and STILL wants to find out what happened with her; same damn thing goes for Max. Max wouldn't let the relationship just die either, ESPECIALLY after LiS1 and seeing how that impacted Chloe the first time they separated. Max also would definitely not be into a fucking Nathan Prescott douche in general, but especially given what happened in LiS. With Amanda I can at least handwave/eye-roll it away cause she's basically a soft demure femmed up lipstick lesbian with minor elements of Chloe buried in the cashmere. I also love how you just ignored certain things like Max's hurling the Rachel barb at Chloe in her journal or Chloe of all people talking about a threesome with some guy. Nvm that Max can technically abuse her powers to hook up with Vinh/Amanda in the separate branches; as if she'd ever fucking do that. Hell even Michel once again in a post on socials said that Decknine's version of Max and Chloe aren't ones he & his team would've done or recognized.

Um no, dumbass she loves Chloe so she does what is needed to save her from y'know DYING. That's just fucking love and care for another person. It is very much fucking healthy and that you see that as unhealthy yet nudge Safi/Max says worlds about your views on relationships.

3- Do I want them to continue Max and Safi's dynamic? Sure, there's interesting aspects there involving one wanting to restrain her powers and another wanting to openly flex hers. But I do NOT at all want it to be all about them, especially with the fucking bit about going back to the Bay. That's pure setup for Chloe to return and the next creative team would be braindead to not rectify DE's team's mistake by delivering a Chloe storyline & OPTION in the end. It won't make up for the character assassination, which is where them putting in a scene to show that DE is a side-branch comes in. Though Decknine already gave enough reason to run with that anyway via their changing Chloe's hair in the LiS2-Bae picture from green to blue; likely cause they have no respect towards DontNod and their characters. But their fuck up allows for one to toss DE into a side-branch, while green-haired Chloe & Max handled by DontNod remain as the main canon. On top of that having opportunity for Safi to use her shape-shift ability to fuck with Max via Chloe and Chloe via Max as part of their storyline.

4- Completely ignoring the actual important detail where your ass offers every other option BUT a Chloe one. Nvm that Michel once again father of LiS, Max, and Chloe stating that the two would always come back together and never fully break up. Hell iirc even recently on the anniversary he was out replying suggestively to Pricefield posts specifically; because he knows the importance of the pair both to each other and to LGBT+ fans that got into the series due to them.

5- Do get your comprehension skills up, cause if your ass bothered to actually read you'd notice that I stated that "violence against women" is AN ELEMENT within; but the core of the entire goddamn first LiS revolves around PRICEFIELD. How the fuck your ass went through the episodes and have at all interacted w/ social media related to the game and not realized that I don't fucking know. Maybe you have that level of damn mental filters put in place. If there wasn't Chloe in the bathroom getting shot, there'd be no time travel; without Chloe and Max's relationship there'd be no story at all just a skeleton of story beats.

Bitch there is no delusion as proven by pointing to Michel AKA ONE OF THE FATHERS OF THE GODDAMN GAME where he fucking basically backs up MY fucking views on things. YOUR ASS is the one off on your own delusional ass island somewhere. On top of that I RESPECT DontNod for what they did with LiS and offering an LGBT+ main damn pairing back in 2015, when LGBT+ was still just starting to be an accepted thing in media. Hell even the fucking comics know the characters, relationship, and story enough to respect DontNod; thus fitting in-line with LiS characterization. Mostly cause Emma actually loved LiS, its characters, its iconic relationship, and gave respect to DontNod.

You fail at grasping the characters, at grasping the relationship, at even aligning with the OG creatives, at remotely being near a Pricefielder, and you stand on nothing but bullshit pro-Safi & clear anti-Chloe bias. You accuse Pricefielders of being limited in their view of things, but YOUR ass is the one that has a limited & just flatout wrong view of things. That's a matter of you not aligning with Michel and DontNod in anyway shape or form, where they're the damn OG creatives that made the damn characters & game.

this is probably going to be EXTREMELY controversial so i dont expect ANYONE to agree (please dont hate me 🙏🙏🙏‼️‼️‼️) but i REALLY DONT WNAT CHLOE BACK IN DE2. I HAVE REASONS!!!!!!!!

1. i think that it'll be viewed as a cash grab and like pricefield / chloe fans r never happy sooooo

2. if chloe and max were to get back together for some unforeseen reason i think that woukd ruin max's potential growth in de2 in my opinion. like i PERSONALLY think that her 'losing' chloe should help her move on from the past and should be portrayed as something that can help her move forward instead of dwelling on what could have been (as taylor swift once said, everything you lose is a step you take 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️)

3. i think she'd be so out of place and id rather have de2 focus on max and safi's relationship and this highkey sounds lkke bias because of my fixation but i PROMISE YOU its not.. mostly...

4. i think that max should grow by herself i really dont think she needs to be attached to chloe by the fucking hip.. like i would be so fucking ecstatic if you got to be with amanda/vinh/safi at the end of de2 but i think the most realistic ending would be for her to be by herself, not FOREVER, but for a good amount of time for her to be secure with being by herself because i personally think max is extremely codependent with chloe.. if .. that makes sense